Logical tone index mapping for distributed tone index transmission

ABSTRACT

A method, an apparatus, and a computer program product for wireless communication are provided. In one aspect, an apparatus includes a processor configured to allocate a plurality of resource blocks for wireless communication. The processor is further configured to transmit data on a first resource block of the plurality of resource blocks, in which the first resource block is associated with a first set of tone indices and a second set of tone indices, and the first set of tone indices is a set of nominal tone indices that is logically mapped to a second set of tone indices that is a set of physical tone indices.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION(S)

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application Ser.No. 62/052,432, entitled “Logical Tone Index Mapping for DistributedTone Index Transmission” and filed on Sep. 18, 2014, which is expresslyincorporated by reference herein in its entirety.

BACKGROUND

1. Field

The present disclosure relates generally to communication systems, andmore particularly, to logical tone index mapping for distributed toneindex transmission.

2. Background

In many telecommunication systems, communications networks are used toexchange messages among several interacting spatially-separated devices.Networks may be classified according to geographic scope, which couldbe, for example, a metropolitan area, a local area, or a personal area.Such networks would be designated respectively as a wide area network(WAN), metropolitan area network (MAN), local area network (LAN),wireless local area network (WLAN), or personal area network (PAN).Networks also differ according to the switching/routing technique usedto interconnect the various network nodes and devices (e.g., circuitswitching vs. packet switching), the type of physical media employed fortransmission (e.g., wired vs. wireless), and the set of communicationprotocols used (e.g., Internet protocol suite, Synchronous OpticalNetworking (SONET), Ethernet, etc.).

Wireless networks are often preferred when the network elements aremobile and thus have dynamic connectivity needs, or if the networkarchitecture is formed in an ad hoc, rather than fixed, topology.Wireless networks employ intangible physical media in an unguidedpropagation mode using electromagnetic waves in the radio, microwave,infra-red, optical, etc., frequency bands. Wireless networksadvantageously facilitate user mobility and rapid field deployment whencompared to fixed wired networks.

SUMMARY

The systems, methods, computer program products, and devices of theinvention each have several aspects, no single one of which is solelyresponsible for the invention's desirable attributes. Without limitingthe scope of this invention as expressed by the claims which follow,some features will now be discussed briefly. After considering thisdiscussion, and particularly after reading the section entitled“Detailed Description,” one will understand how the features of thisinvention provide advantages for devices in a wireless network.

One aspect of this disclosure provides a wireless device (e.g., anaccess point) for wireless communication. The wireless device isconfigured to allocate a plurality of resource blocks for wirelesscommunication. The wireless device is further configured to transmitdata on a first resource block of the plurality of resource blocks. Thefirst resource block is associated with a first set of tone indices anda second set of tone indices, and the first set of tone indices is a setof nominal tone indices that is logically mapped to a second set of toneindices that is a set of physical tone indices.

In another aspect, an apparatus (e.g., an access point) for wirelesscommunication is provided. The apparatus includes means for allocating aplurality of resource blocks for wireless communication. The apparatusincludes means for transmitting data on a first resource block of theplurality of resource blocks, in which the first resource block isassociated with a first set of tone indices and a second set of toneindices, and the first set of tone indices is a set of nominal toneindices that is logically mapped to a second set of tone indices that isa set of physical tone indices. In an aspect, the second set of toneindices may be based on bit reversal function of a third set of toneindices, the second set of tone indices may not include direct currenttones and guard tones, and the first set of tone indices may represent anatural order of the second set of tone indices. In another aspect, thesecond set of tone indices may be based on an interleaver matrixfunction of the first set of tone indices, and an input into theinterleaver matrix function may be a set of tone indices. In anotheraspect, each tone index in the first set of tone indices may be mappedto a corresponding tone index in the second set of tone indices based onan equation, f(x)=i*D_(m)+k, in which i is a local tone index associatedwith the first resource block, D_(m) is a scaling factor, k is aresource block number associated with the first resource block, and f(x)is an index position related to the first set of tone indices. In thisaspect, the corresponding tone index in the second set of tone indicesmay correspond to a tone index in the first set of tone indices havingthe index position of f(x). In another aspect, when f(x) is greater thana MaxToneIndex, in which the MaxToneIndex represents a maximumdistributed tone index, f(x) is determined by a second equation,mod(f(x),MaxToneIndex), and the corresponding tone index in the secondset of tone indices corresponds to a tone index in the first set of toneindices having the index position equal to mod(f(x),MaxToneIndex). Inanother configuration, the apparatus may include means for transmittingallocation information related to a second resource block. The secondresource block may be associated with a third set of tone indices and afourth set of tone indices, and the third set of tone indices may be aset of nominal tone indices that is logically mapped to the fourth setof tone indices that is a set of physical tone indices. In this aspect,the allocation information may include at least one of the third set oftone indices, an identifier, a resource block size, or the fourth set oftone indices. In another configuration, the apparatus may include meansfor receiving a plurality of data packets from a wireless device over athird set of tone indices associated with a second resource block, andeach data packet of the plurality of data packets may be received over atone index of the third set of tone indices. In this configuration, theapparatus may include means for determining a fourth set of tone indicesassociated with the second resource block based on the third set of toneindices, in which the third set of tone indices is a set of physicaltone indices that is logically mapped to the fourth set of tone indicesthat is a set of nominal tone indices. In another configuration, theapparatus may include means for reordering the received plurality ofdata packets based on the fourth set of tone indices. In an aspect, themeans for reordering may be configured to determine a tone index in thethird set of tone indices on which each data packet of the plurality ofdata packets was received, to determine a corresponding tone index inthe fourth set of tone indices for each tone index on which each datapacket of the plurality of data packets was received, and to rearrangethe plurality of data packets based an order of each corresponding toneindex in the fourth set of tone indices. In another configuration, themeans for determining the fourth set of tone indices may be configuredto determine a fifth set of tone indices based on the third set of toneindices and to compare the fifth set of tone indices with a mappingtable, in which the mapping table maps the fifth set of tone indices tothe fourth set of tone indices. In an aspect, the fourth set of toneindices may be determined based on an interleaver matrix function andthe third set of tone indices. In another configuration, the means fordetermining the fourth set of tone indices may be configured to, foreach tone index in the third set of tone indices, determine an indexposition of a corresponding tone index in the fourth set of toneindices, to subtract the index position by an offset value, and todivide the difference by a scaling factor.

In another aspect, a computer-readable medium associated with an accesspoint and storing computer executable for wireless communication. Thecomputer-readable medium includes code for allocating a plurality ofresource blocks for wireless communication. The computer-readable mediumincludes code for transmitting data on a first resource block of theplurality of resource blocks. The first resource block may be associatedwith a first set of tone indices and a second set of tone indices. Thefirst set of tone indices may be a set of nominal tone indices that islogically mapped to a second set of tone indices that is a set ofphysical tone indices. In an aspect, the second set of tone indices is abased on bit reversal function of a third set of tone indices, thesecond set of tone indices may not include direct current tones andguard tones, and the first set of tone indices may represent a naturalorder of the second set of tone indices. In another aspect, the secondset of tone indices may be based on an interleaver matrix function ofthe first set of tone indices, and an input into the interleaver matrixfunction may be a set of tone indices. In another aspect, each toneindex in the first set of tone indices may be mapped to a correspondingtone index in the second set of tone indices based on an equation,f(x)=i*D_(m)+k, in which i is a local tone index associated with thefirst resource block, D_(m) is a scaling factor, k is a resource blocknumber associated with the first resource block, and f(x) is an indexposition related to the first set of tone indices. In this aspect, thecorresponding tone index in the second set of tone indices maycorrespond to a tone index in the first set of tone indices having theindex position of f(x). In another aspect, f(x) is greater than aMaxToneIndex, the MaxToneIndex represents a maximum distributed toneindex, f(x) is determined by a second equation, mod(f(x),MaxToneIndex),and the corresponding tone index in the second set of tone indicescorresponds to a tone index in the first set of tone indices having theindex position equal to mod(f(x),MaxToneIndex). In anotherconfiguration, the computer-readable medium further includes code fortransmitting allocation information related to a second resource block,in which the second resource block is associated with a third set oftone indices and a fourth set of tone indices, and the third set of toneindices is a set of nominal tone indices that is logically mapped to thefourth set of tone indices that is a set of physical tone indices. Inthis configuration, the allocation information may include at least oneof the third set of tone indices, an identifier, a resource block size,or the fourth set of tone indices. In another configuration, thecomputer-readable medium may include code for receiving a plurality ofdata packets from a wireless device over a third set of tone indicesassociated with a second resource block, in which each data packet ofthe plurality of data packets is received over a tone index of the thirdset of tone indices. In this configuration, the computer-readable mediummay include code for determining a fourth set of tone indices associatedwith the second resource block based on the third set of tone indices,in which the third set of tone indices is a set of physical tone indicesthat is logically mapped to the fourth set of tone indices that is a setof nominal tone indices. In another configuration, the computer-readablemedium may include code for reordering the received plurality of datapackets based on the fourth set of tone indices. In anotherconfiguration, the code for reordering may include code for determininga tone index in the third set of tone indices on which each data packetof the plurality of data packets was received, for determining acorresponding tone index in the fourth set of tone indices for each toneindex on which each data packet of the plurality of data packets wasreceived, and for rearranging the plurality of data packets based anorder of each corresponding tone index in the fourth set of toneindices. In another configuration, the code for determining the fourthset of tone indices may include code for determining a fifth set of toneindices based on the third set of tone indices and for comparing thefifth set of tone indices with a mapping table, in which the mappingtable maps the fifth set of tone indices to the fourth set of toneindices. In an aspect, the fourth set of tone indices is determinedbased on an interleaver matrix function and the third set of toneindices. In another configuration, the code for determining the fourthset of tone indices may include, for each tone index in the third set oftone indices, code for determining an index position of a correspondingtone index in the fourth set of tone indices, for subtracting the indexposition by an offset value, and for dividing the difference by ascaling factor.

Another aspect of this disclosure provides a wireless device (e.g., astation) for wireless communication. The wireless device is configuredto receive allocation information related to at least one allocatedresource block. The wireless device is further configured to determine afirst set of tone indices associated with the at least one allocatedresource block based on the received allocation information. The firstset of tone indices is a function of a second set of tone indicesassociated with the at least one allocated resource block, and the firstset of tone indices is a set of physical tone indices and the second setof tone indices is a set of nominal tone indices. The wireless device isfurther configured to transmit data on the determined first set of toneindices associated with the at least one allocated resource block.

In another aspect, an apparatus (e.g., a station) for wirelesscommunication is provided. The apparatus includes means for receivingallocation information related to at least one allocated resource block.The apparatus includes means for determining a first set of tone indicesassociated with the at least one allocated resource block based on thereceived allocation information. The first set of tone indices may be afunction of a second set of tone indices associated with the at leastone allocated resource block, the first set of tone indices may be a setof physical tone indices, and the second set of tone indices may be aset of nominal tone indices. The apparatus includes means fortransmitting data on the determined first set of tone indices associatedwith the at least one allocated resource block. In an aspect, theallocation information may include the second set of tone indices, andthe means for determining the first set of tone indices may beconfigured to compare each tone index in the second set of tone indiceswith a mapping table, in which the mapping table indicates which toneindex from the first set of tone indices corresponds to each tone indexin the second set of tone indices, and to identify a tone index from thefirst set of tone indices that corresponds to each tone index in thesecond set of tone indices. In an aspect, the allocation informationincludes at least one identifier, the at least one identifier beingassociated with the at least one allocated resource block, and thedetermining the first set of tone indices includes determining the firstset of tone indices as a function of the at least one identifier. Inanother configuration, the means for determining the first set of toneindices is configured to determine an interleaver matrix according to abandwidth size and to determine the first set of tone indices based onthe interleaver matrix and the at least one identifier. In anotherconfiguration, the apparatus may include means for receiving a pluralityof data packets from a wireless device over a third set of tone indicesassociated with a second resource block, in which each data packet ofthe plurality of data packets is received over a tone index of the thirdset of tone indices, and means for determining a fourth set of toneindices associated with the second resource block based on the third setof tone indices, in which the third set of tone indices is a set ofphysical tone indices that is logically mapped to the fourth set of toneindices that is a set of nominal tone indices. In another configuration,the apparatus may include means for reordering the received plurality ofdata packets based on the fourth set of tone indices. In anotherconfiguration, the means for reordering may be configured to determine atone index in the third set of tone indices on which each data packet ofthe plurality of data packets was received, to determine a correspondingtone index in the fourth set of tone indices for each tone index onwhich each data packet of the plurality of data packets was received,and to rearrange the plurality of data packets based an order of eachcorresponding tone index in the fourth set of tone indices. In anotherconfiguration, the means for determining the fourth set of tone indicesmay be configured to determine a fifth set of tone indices based on thethird set of tone indices and to compare the fifth set of tone indiceswith a mapping table, in which the mapping table maps the fifth set oftone indices to the fourth set of tone indices. In an aspect, the fourthset of tone indices may be determined based on an interleaver matrixfunction and the third set of tone indices. In another aspect, the meansfor determining the fourth set of tone indices may be configured to, foreach tone index in the third set of tone indices, determine an indexposition of a corresponding tone index in the fourth set of toneindices, subtract the index position by an offset value, and divide thedifference by a scaling factor.

In another aspect, a computer-readable medium associated with a stationand storing computer executable for wireless communication. Thecomputer-readable medium includes code for receiving allocationinformation related to at least one allocated resource block. Thecomputer-readable medium includes code for determining a first set oftone indices associated with the at least one allocated resource blockbased on the received allocation information, in which the first set oftone indices is a function of a second set of tone indices associatedwith the at least one allocated resource block, and the first set oftone indices is a set of physical tone indices and the second set oftone indices is a set of nominal tone indices. The computer-readablemedium includes code for transmitting data on the determined first setof tone indices associated with the at least one allocated resourceblock. In an aspect, the allocation information includes the second setof tone indices. In this aspect, the code for determining the first setof tone indices may include code for comparing each tone index in thesecond set of tone indices with a mapping table, in which the mappingtable indicates which tone index from the first set of tone indicescorresponds to each tone index in the second set of tone indices, andfor identifying a tone index from the first set of tone indices thatcorresponds to each tone index in the second set of tone indices. Inanother aspect, the allocation information includes at least oneidentifier, and the at least one identifier is associated with the atleast one allocated resource block. In this aspect, the code fordetermining the first set of tone indices may include code fordetermining the first set of tone indices as a function of the at leastone identifier. In another configuration, the code for determining thefirst set of tone indices further includes code for determining aninterleaver matrix according to a bandwidth size and for determining thefirst set of tone indices based on the interleaver matrix and the atleast one identifier. In another configuration, the computer-readablemedium may include code for receiving a plurality of data packets from awireless device over a third set of tone indices associated with asecond resource block, in which each data packet of the plurality ofdata packets is received over a tone index of the third set of toneindices, and for determining a fourth set of tone indices associatedwith the second resource block based on the third set of tone indices,in which the third set of tone indices is a set of physical tone indicesthat is logically mapped to the fourth set of tone indices that is a setof nominal tone indices. In another configuration, the computer-readablemedium may include code for reordering the received plurality of datapackets based on the fourth set of tone indices. In anotherconfiguration, the code for reordering may include code for determininga tone index in the third set of tone indices on which each data packetof the plurality of data packets was received, for determining acorresponding tone index in the fourth set of tone indices for each toneindex on which each data packet of the plurality of data packets wasreceived, and for rearranging the plurality of data packets based anorder of each corresponding tone index in the fourth set of toneindices. In another configuration, the code for determining the fourthset of tone indices may include code for determining a fifth set of toneindices based on the third set of tone indices and for comparing thefifth set of tone indices with a mapping table, in which the mappingtable maps the fifth set of tone indices to the fourth set of toneindices. In another aspect, the fourth set of tone indices is determinedbased on an interleaver matrix function and the third set of toneindices. In another configuration, the code for determining the fourthset of tone indices may, for each tone index in the third set of toneindices, include code for determining an index position of acorresponding tone index in the fourth set of tone indices, forsubtracting the index position by an offset value, and for dividing thedifference by a scaling factor.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows an example wireless communication system in which aspectsof the present disclosure may be employed.

FIG. 2 is a diagram of a wireless network and a tone plan.

FIG. 3 illustrates an exemplary subband allocation for a 20 MHz 4×symbol.

FIG. 4 is an exemplary illustration of a distributed allocation in whichtones for a 20 MHz, 4× symbol duration transmission are allocated evenlybetween four users.

FIG. 5 illustrates a 20 MHz tone plan for a symbol with a 4× symbolduration.

FIG. 6 is a diagram that shows distributed tone mapping using truncatedbit reversal.

FIG. 7 illustrates diagrams that show an exemplary tone index mappingfor implementing distributed tone mapping using a row-column interleaverfunction.

FIG. 8 illustrates diagrams that show an exemplary tone index mappingusing distance based logical mapping.

FIG. 9 is a functional block diagram of a wireless device that may beemployed within the wireless communication system of FIG. 1 fortransmitting on tone mapped resource blocks and allocating tone mappedresource blocks.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart of an exemplary method of wireless communicationfor transmitting on tone mapped resource blocks and allocating tonemapped resource blocks.

FIG. 11 is a functional block diagram of an exemplary wirelesscommunication device for transmitting on tone mapped resource blocks andallocating tone mapped resource blocks.

FIG. 12 is a functional block diagram of a wireless device that may beemployed within the wireless communication system of FIG. 1 fortransmitting on tone mapped resource blocks.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart of an exemplary method of wireless communicationfor transmitting on tone mapped resource blocks.

FIG. 14 is a functional block diagram of an exemplary wirelesscommunication device for transmitting on tone mapped resource blocks.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Various aspects of the novel systems, apparatuses, computer programproducts, and methods are described more fully hereinafter withreference to the accompanying drawings. This disclosure may, however, beembodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limitedto any specific structure or function presented throughout thisdisclosure. Rather, these aspects are provided so that this disclosurewill be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of thedisclosure to those skilled in the art. Based on the teachings hereinone skilled in the art should appreciate that the scope of thedisclosure is intended to cover any aspect of the novel systems,apparatuses, computer program products, and methods disclosed herein,whether implemented independently of, or combined with, any other aspectof the invention. For example, an apparatus may be implemented or amethod may be practiced using any number of the aspects set forthherein. In addition, the scope of the invention is intended to coversuch an apparatus or method which is practiced using other structure,functionality, or structure and functionality in addition to or otherthan the various aspects of the invention set forth herein. It should beunderstood that any aspect disclosed herein may be embodied by one ormore elements of a claim.

Although particular aspects are described herein, many variations andpermutations of these aspects fall within the scope of the disclosure.Although some benefits and advantages of the preferred aspects arementioned, the scope of the disclosure is not intended to be limited toparticular benefits, uses, or objectives. Rather, aspects of thedisclosure are intended to be broadly applicable to different wirelesstechnologies, system configurations, networks, and transmissionprotocols, some of which are illustrated by way of example in thefigures and in the following description of the preferred aspects. Thedetailed description and drawings are merely illustrative of thedisclosure rather than limiting, the scope of the disclosure beingdefined by the appended claims and equivalents thereof.

Popular wireless network technologies may include various types ofWLANs. A WLAN may be used to interconnect nearby devices together,employing widely used networking protocols. The various aspectsdescribed herein may apply to any communication standard, such as awireless protocol.

In some aspects, wireless signals may be transmitted according to an802.11 protocol using orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM),direct-sequence spread spectrum (DSSS) communications, a combination ofOFDM and DSSS communications, or other schemes. Implementations of the802.11 protocol may be used for sensors, metering, and smart gridnetworks. Advantageously, aspects of certain devices implementing the802.11 protocol may consume less power than devices implementing otherwireless protocols, and/or may be used to transmit wireless signalsacross a relatively long range, for example about one kilometer orlonger.

In some implementations, a WLAN includes various devices which are thecomponents that access the wireless network. For example, there may betwo types of devices: access points (APs) and clients (also referred toas stations or “STAs”). In general, an AP may serve as a hub or basestation for the WLAN and a STA serves as a user of the WLAN. Forexample, a STA may be a laptop computer, a personal digital assistant(PDA), a mobile phone, etc. In an example, a STA connects to an AP via aWi-Fi (e.g., IEEE 802.11 protocol) compliant wireless link to obtaingeneral connectivity to the Internet or to other wide area networks. Insome implementations a STA may also be used as an AP.

An access point may also comprise, be implemented as, or known as aNodeB, Radio Network Controller (RNC), eNodeB, Base Station Controller(BSC), Base Transceiver Station (BTS), Base Station (BS), TransceiverFunction (TF), Radio Router, Radio Transceiver, connection point, orsome other terminology.

A station may also comprise, be implemented as, or known as an accessterminal (AT), a subscriber station, a subscriber unit, a mobilestation, a remote station, a remote terminal, a user terminal, a useragent, a user device, a user equipment, or some other terminology. Insome implementations a station may comprise a cellular telephone, acordless telephone, a Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) phone, awireless local loop (WLL) station, a personal digital assistant (PDA), ahandheld device having wireless connection capability, or some othersuitable processing device connected to a wireless modem. Accordingly,one or more aspects taught herein may be incorporated into a phone(e.g., a cellular phone or smartphone), a computer (e.g., a laptop), aportable communication device, a headset, a portable computing device(e.g., a personal data assistant), an entertainment device (e.g., amusic or video device, or a satellite radio), a gaming device or system,a global positioning system device, or any other suitable device that isconfigured to communicate via a wireless medium.

In an aspect, MIMO schemes may be used for wide area WLAN (e.g., Wi-Fi)connectivity. MIMO exploits a radio-wave characteristic calledmultipath. In multipath, transmitted data may bounce off objects (e.g.,walls, doors, furniture), reaching the receiving antenna multiple timesthrough different routes and at different times. A WLAN device thatemploys MIMO will split a data stream into multiple parts, calledspatial streams (or multi-streams), and transmit each spatial streamthrough separate antennas to corresponding antennas on a receiving WLANdevice.

The term “associate,” or “association,” or any variant thereof should begiven the broadest meaning possible within the context of the presentdisclosure. By way of example, when a first apparatus associates with asecond apparatus, it should be understood that the two apparatuses maybe directly associated or intermediate apparatuses may be present. Forpurposes of brevity, the process for establishing an association betweentwo apparatuses will be described using a handshake protocol thatrequires an “association request” by one of the apparatus followed by an“association response” by the other apparatus. It will be understood bythose skilled in the art that the handshake protocol may require othersignaling, such as by way of example, signaling to provideauthentication.

Any reference to an element herein using a designation such as “first,”“second,” and so forth does not generally limit the quantity or order ofthose elements. Rather, these designations are used herein as aconvenient method of distinguishing between two or more elements orinstances of an element. Thus, a reference to first and second elementsdoes not mean that only two elements can be employed, or that the firstelement must precede the second element. In addition, a phrase referringto “at least one of” a list of items refers to any combination of thoseitems, including single members. As an example, “at least one of: A, B,or C” is intended to cover: A, or B, or C, or any combination thereof(e.g., A-B, A-C, B-C, and A-B-C).

As discussed above, certain devices described herein may implement the802.11 standard, for example. Such devices, whether used as a STA or APor other device, may be used for smart metering or in a smart gridnetwork. Such devices may provide sensor applications or be used in homeautomation. The devices may instead or in addition be used in ahealthcare context, for example for personal healthcare. They may alsobe used for surveillance, to enable extended-range Internet connectivity(e.g. for use with hotspots), or to implement machine-to-machinecommunications.

FIG. 1 shows an example wireless communication system 100 in whichaspects of the present disclosure may be employed. The wirelesscommunication system 100 may operate pursuant to a wireless standard,for example the 802.11ax standard. The wireless communication system 100may include an AP 104, which communicates with STAs (e.g., STAs 112,114, 116, and 118).

A variety of processes and methods may be used for transmissions in thewireless communication system 100 between the AP 104 and the STAs. Forexample, signals may be sent and received between the AP 104 and theSTAs in accordance with OFDM/Orthogonal Frequency Division MultipleAccess (OFDMA) techniques. If this is the case, the wirelesscommunication system 100 may be referred to as an OFDM/OFDMA system.Alternatively, signals may be sent and received between the AP 104 andthe STAs in accordance with CDMA techniques. If this is the case, thewireless communication system 100 may be referred to as a CDMA system.

A communication link that facilitates transmission from the AP 104 toone or more of the STAs may be referred to as a downlink (DL) 108, and acommunication link that facilitates transmission from one or more of theSTAs to the AP 104 may be referred to as an uplink (UL) 110.Alternatively, a downlink 108 may be referred to as a forward link or aforward channel, and an uplink 110 may be referred to as a reverse linkor a reverse channel. In some aspects, DL communications may includeunicast or multicast traffic indications.

The AP 104 may suppress adjacent channel interference (ACI) in someaspects so that the AP 104 may receive UL communications on more thanone channel simultaneously without causing significant analog-to-digitalconversion (ADC) clipping noise. The AP 104 may improve suppression ofACI, for example, by having separate finite impulse response (FIR)filters for each channel or having a longer ADC backoff period withincreased bit widths.

The AP 104 may act as a base station and provide wireless communicationcoverage in a basic service area (BSA) 102. A BSA (e.g., the BSA 102) isthe coverage area of an AP (e.g., the AP 104). The AP 104 along with theSTAs associated with the AP 104 and that use the AP 104 forcommunication may be referred to as a basic service set (BSS). It shouldbe noted that the wireless communication system 100 may not have acentral AP (e.g., AP 104), but rather may function as a peer-to-peernetwork between the STAs. Accordingly, the functions of the AP 104described herein may alternatively be performed by one or more of theSTAs.

The AP 104 may transmit on one or more channels (e.g., multiplenarrowband channels, each channel including a frequency bandwidth) abeacon signal (or simply a “beacon”), via a communication link such asthe downlink 108, to other nodes (STAs) of the wireless communicationsystem 100, which may help the other nodes (STAs) to synchronize theirtiming with the AP 104, or which may provide other information orfunctionality. Such beacons may be transmitted periodically. In oneaspect, the period between successive transmissions may be referred toas a superframe. Transmission of a beacon may be divided into a numberof groups or intervals. In one aspect, the beacon may include, but isnot limited to, such information as timestamp information to set acommon clock, a peer-to-peer network identifier, a device identifier,capability information, a superframe duration, transmission directioninformation, reception direction information, a neighbor list, and/or anextended neighbor list, some of which are described in additional detailbelow. Thus, a beacon may include information that is both common (e.g.,shared) amongst several devices and specific to a given device.

In some aspects, a STA (e.g., STA 114) may be required to associate withthe AP 104 in order to send communications to and/or to receivecommunications from the AP 104. In one aspect, information forassociating is included in a beacon broadcast by the AP 104. To receivesuch a beacon, the STA 114 may, for example, perform a broad coveragesearch over a coverage region. A search may also be performed by the STA114 by sweeping a coverage region in a lighthouse fashion, for example.After receiving the information for associating, the STA 114 maytransmit a reference signal, such as an association probe or request, tothe AP 104. In some aspects, the AP 104 may use backhaul services, forexample, to communicate with a larger network, such as the Internet or apublic switched telephone network (PSTN).

In an aspect, the AP 104 may include one or more components forperforming various functions. For example, the AP 104 may include a toneallocation component 124 configured to allocate a plurality of resourceblocks for wireless communication. The tone allocation component 124 maybe configured to transmit data to a STA (e.g., STA 114) on a firstresource block of the plurality of resource blocks. The first resourceblock may be associated with a first set of tone indices and a secondset of tone indices. The first set of tone indices may be a set ofnominal tone indices that is logically mapped to a second set of toneindices that is a set of physical tone indices.

In another aspect, the tone allocation component 124 may be configuredto receive a plurality of data packets from a second wireless device(e.g., the STA 114) over a first set of tone indices associated with aresource block. Each data packet of the plurality of data packets may bereceived over a tone index of the first set of tone indices. The toneallocation component 124 may be configured to determine a second set oftone indices associated with the resource block based on the first setof tone indices. In this aspect, the first set of tone indices may be aset of physical tone indices that is logically mapped to the second setof tone indices that is a set of nominal tone indices.

In another configuration, the STA 114 may include one or more componentsfor performing various functions. For example, the STA 114 may include atone mapping component 126 configured to receive allocation informationrelated to at least one allocated resource block. The tone mappingcomponent 126 may be configured to determine a first set of tonesindices associated with the at least one allocated resource block basedon the received allocation information. The first set of tones indicesmay be a function of a second set of tone indices associated with the atleast one allocated resource block. The first set of tone indices may bea set of physical tone indices, and the second set of tone indices maybe a set of nominal tone indices. The tone mapping component 126 may beconfigured to transmit data on the determined first set of tone indicesassociated with the at least one allocated resource block.

In another aspect, the tone mapping component 126 may be configured toreceive a plurality of data packets from a second wireless device (e.g.,the AP 104) over a first set of tone indices associated with a resourceblock. Each data packet of the plurality of data packets may be receivedover a tone index of the first set of tone indices. The tone mappingcomponent 126 may be configured to determine a second set of toneindices associated with the resource block based on the first set oftone indices. The first set of tone indices may be a set of physicaltone indices that is logically mapped to the second set of tone indicesthat is a set of nominal tone indices.

FIG. 2 is a diagram 200 of a wireless network (e.g., a Wi-Fi network)and a tone plan. The diagram 200 illustrates an AP 202broadcasting/transmitting within a service area 214. STAs 206, 208, 210,212 are within the service area 214 of the AP 202 (although only fourSTAs are shown in FIG. 2, more or less STAs may be within the servicearea 214).

The AP 202 may transmit symbols (e.g., data symbols or LTF symbols) 204to one or more STAs (e.g., STAs 206, 208, 210, 212) in one or moreframes, and vice versa. A frame 250 may include a preamble 260 and datasymbols 268. The preamble 260 may be considered a header of the frame250 with information identifying a modulation scheme, a transmissionrate, and a length of time to transmit the frame 250. The preamble 260may include a signal (SIG) field 262, a short training field (STF) 264,and one or more long training field (LTF) symbols 266 (e.g., LTF1, LTF2,. . . , LTFN). The SIG field 262 may be used to transfer rate and lengthinformation. The SIG field 262 may also be used to indicate a set oftone indices (e.g., nominal tone indices) that has been allocated to awireless device (e.g., the AP 202 or the STA 206). The STF 264 may beused to improve automatic gain control (AGC) in a multi-transmit andmulti-receive system. The LTF symbols 266 may be used to provide theinformation needed for a receiver (e.g., the STA 206) to perform channelestimation. The number of LTF symbols may be equal to or greater thanthe number of space-time streams from different STAs. For example, ifthere are 4 STAs, there may be 4 LTF symbols (i.e., LTF1, LTF2, LTF3,LTF4). The data symbols 268 contain the user data to be communicatedbetween the STA 206, for example, and the AP 202.

In one configuration, the AP 202 may transmit a trigger message 216 toone or more STAs (e.g., the STA 212). In one aspect, the trigger message216 may indicate a set of tone indices (e.g., nominal tone indices) thathas been allocated to the STA. In another aspect, the trigger message216 may include other allocation information that may be used by the STAto determine the set of tone indices that has been allocated to the STA.

In one aspect, the LTF symbols 266 (and data symbols 268) may have atone plan that indicates which tones are guard tones, data tones, pilottones, and direct current (DC) tones. For example, tone plan 270 is anexample of a tone plan for a 20 megahertz (MHz) symbol with 1× symbolduration. The tone plan 270 has 64 tones located within a tone indicesrange of −32 to 31 or [−32:31]. As shown in FIG. 2, however, not alltone indices are pictured. The tone indices not pictured [−32:−29] and[29:31] are guard tones, which are tones that may have zero amplitudeand are used to provide isolation or system separation from neighboringtransmissions/symbols in order to reduce the likelihood of tones fromdifferent symbols bleeding together. A DC tone, located at tone index 0in this example, has no power and may be used for AGC setup. Althoughthis example illustrates one DC tone at tone index 0, additional DCtones may be used (e.g., 3 DC tones may be located at tone indices −1,0, and 1). In this example, the remaining tone indices [−28:−1] and[1:28] contain usable tones that may used to transmit data (e.g., forchannel estimation) and pilot signals (e.g., for phase driftcorrection). In the tone plan 270, data 272 may be transmitted on toneindices −28, −27, −26, −10, −5, 5, 10, 26, 27, and 28, for example. Apilot signal 274 for phase drift correction, for example, may betransmitted on tone index −21. Additional pilot signals (as indicted byvertical arrows in FIG. 2) may be transmitted on tone indices −7, 7, and21. Because the first valid tone, after the guard tones on which data orpilot signals may be transmitted, is located on tone index −28, thistone index may be known as a valid start tone index. Similarly, toneindex 28 may be known as a valid end tone index because tone index 28 isthe last valid tone on which data or pilot signals may be transmittedbefore reaching tone indices [29:31], which are reserved for guardtones. In sum, the tone plan 270 has usable tones within a tone indicesrange of [−28:−1] and [1:28].

Referring again to FIG. 2, although the LTF symbol 266 (e.g., LTF1) hasa 1× symbol duration as evidenced by the tone plan 270, some wirelessnetworks may use symbols with a 4× symbol duration. Symbols with a 4×symbol duration may have a total of 256 tones of which 242 tones areusable tones (excluding guard tones and DC tones). For example, a symbolwith a 4× symbol duration may have usable tones within a tone indicesrange of [−122:−2] and [2:122]. In one configuration, three DC tones maybe located on tone indices [−1:1], and guard tones may be located ontone indices [−128:−123] and [123:127]. The tone indices for a symbolwith a 4× symbol duration may also be represented by the range [0:255]instead of [−128:127]. Like the range [−128:127], the range [0:255]contains 256 tones but represents each tone index using a positiveinteger.

In an aspect, certain tones may be designated as common pilot tones.These tones may be used as pilot tones for all the users of the OFDMAtransmission. For example, in a DL OFDMA transmission, the transmittingdevice may use these tones as pilot tones, and each receiving device mayreceive the common pilot tones, and use those tones for channelestimation and other purposes. Accordingly, the tones which may be usedas common pilot tones may not be assigned to any user. In certaintransmissions, there may also be certain unused or unoccupied tones. Forexample, these tones may be unused due to a lack of queued data thatneeds to be transmitted on those tones, or due to the use of a tone planwhich does not require that all of the available tones be used.

Generally, a Wi-Fi network may have a specified bandwidth that includesa certain number of tones. A set of tones within the bandwidth may begrouped into a resource block. In OFDMA, for example, the resourceblocks or tones may be allocated among multiple wireless devices withinthe Wi-Fi network to enable different STAs to transmit in the uplink orreceive in the downlink simultaneously. Each resource block mayrepresent a subband. When users transmit on the allocated resourceblocks, however, the users need not transmit on the same allocated toneindices that correspond to the resource block. In some instances, theallocated tone indices may be logically mapped to a different set ofphysical tone indices for transmission.

In one configuration, the allocated tones indices within a resourceblock and the actual physical tone indices used for transmission by theresource block may be the same as shown in FIG. 3. FIG. 3 illustrates anexemplary subband allocation 300 for a 20 MHz 4× symbol. In a subbandallocation, the total bandwidth may be divided into a number ofsubbands. For example, in FIG. 3, the total bandwidth has been dividedinto four subbands. Each of those subbands is then assigned to a singleuser, and that user transmits (or receives) on each tone of thatsubband. Subband allocation may enable more efficient use of a set ofavailable tones.

For example, in a 20 MHz transmission with a 4× symbol duration, theremay be 11 guard tones and 5 DC tones. This may leave 240 tones for thevarious users to use, which may be used as pilot tones, data tones, orother tones (such as additional guard or DC tones). Accordingly, whenthese tones are divided between four users, as illustrated, each usermay be assigned 60 tones. The tones indices of a transmission may benumbered from −128 to 127 (or [0:255]), with the usable tones indicesbeing those numbered from −122 to −3, and from 3 to 122. As shown inFIG. 3, there are 4 subbands—[−122:−63], [−62:−3], [3:62], and [63:122].Users 1-4 may be assigned to each subband, respectively. For example,when assigning tones using a subband allocation, User 1 may be assignedeach tone from −122 to −63, User 2 may be assigned each tone from −62 to−3, User 3 may be assigned each tone from 3 to 62, and User 4 may beassigned each tone from 63 to 122. If the allocated tone indices and thecorresponding physical tone indices are the same, then User 1 may beallocated tone indices −122 to −63 and also transmit on tone indices−122 to −63, for example.

Accordingly, in a subband allocation, each user occupies a chunk oftones that form a contiguous frequency band. No other users' tones arelocated within that frequency band. However, unoccupied tones, such asDC tones or tones that carry common information (pilot tones, tones forcontrol information), may be located within a user's tone allocation.

In another configuration, the allocated tones indices associated with anallocated resource block are logically mapped to a different set ofphysical tone indices. FIG. 4 is an exemplary illustration of adistributed allocation 400 in which tones for a 20 MHz, 4× symbolduration transmission are allocated evenly between four users.Generally, in a distributed tone mapping, a user is allocated a set oftone indices within a resource block. When the user transmits on theallocated set of tones, however, the data may be transmitted on everynth tone of all the usable tones, where n may be the number of users inthe allocation. Generally, the usable tones may be the tones which arenot being used as guard tones and DC tones. Note that, generally, eachtone discussed herein is a “usable” tone, rather than a guard tone andDC tone. Accordingly, in distributed tone mapping, a device may beallocated a subband of tone indices, but a device may transmit on everynth usable tone, which does not include those other tones. For example,as illustrated in FIG. 4, when there are four users in a distributedtone mapping, each user may transmit on every 4th tone. Users 1-4 aredenoted by different line types. As shown in FIG. 4, User 1 transmits onthe left most tone index, corresponding to tone index −122. User 2transmits on the second left most tone index, corresponding to toneindex −121. User 3 transmits on the third left most tone index,corresponding to tone index −120. User 4 transmits on the fourth leftmost tone index, corresponding to tone index −199. From then on, everyuser transmits on every 4th tone index.

Compared to subband-based OFDMA transmission, distributed OFDMA tonemapping may enable greater frequency diversity gain and transmissionpower advantage. This may be especially true for uplink transmission.Logical mapping may be used to connect resource tone allocation withactual physical tones for transmission. Logical mapping methods may betransparent to the uplink and downlink and independent of the number ofusers. Logical mapping methods may be simple and systematic for allbandwidths so as not to introduce significant delay in processing. Assuch, de-mapping may be simple and may not create a bottleneck inreceiver processing delay. In logical mapping, the mapped, distributedset of physical tone indices may be spread over at least some minimumbandwidth for purposes of having a power advantage. The minimumbandwidth may be determined by peak power divided by the power spectrumdensity (PSD) limit. Assuming total power limit of 24 dBm and a PSDlimit of 11 dBm/MHz, the minimum bandwidth may be determined to be 20MHz. For OFDMA bandwidths greater than 20 MHz, logical mapping can beperformed per 20 MHz logical tone mapping for the user assigned to acertain 20 MHz resource block (hybrid distributed OFDMA), or logicalmapping can be performed on the entire bandwidth (regular distributedOFDMA). For downlink or single users, pilot tones from differentresource blocks may be spread out so that common pilots can provide morediversity compared to having dedicated pilots in each resource block.For uplink, pilots may evenly spread over the bandwidth such that alluser pilots may cluster together.

Furthermore, in logical tone mapping, the usable tone indices may bemapped and the unusable tone indices may not be mapped (neither from norto) to keep the location known to any receiver. In one embodiment,unusable tone indices/locations may include DC tones, guard tones, andspecial center blocks, edge blocks, and left and right center blocks.Usable tones (e.g., data tones and pilot tones) may be the remainingtones within the tone plan.

FIG. 5 illustrates a 20 MHz tone plan 500 for a symbol with a 4× symbolduration. As shown in FIG. 5, there are 256 tones spread over a toneindices range of −128 to 127. This range of tone indices mayalternatively be referred to as 0 to 255 or [0:255]. In a wirelessnetwork, each wireless device (e.g., the AP 202 or the STA 206) may beallocated one or more tone allocation units (TAUs) or resource blocksfor data transmission. Each TAU may have 32 tones and the tones may becontiguous. Assuming 7 DC tones and 11 guard tones, a 20 MHz symbol witha 4× symbol duration may have 7 TAUs with 14 tones remaining or leftover. The remaining 14 tones may be split into 2 segments of 7 toneseach, and each 7-tone segment may be located next to the guard tones asshown in FIG. 5. In another aspect, the DC tones may be straddled by the7-tone segments. The TAU4 may straddle the 32 tones around DC. In oneaspect, the remaining 14 tones may be used for common control (e.g.,signaling, scheduling, power control, etc.). In another aspect, theremaining 14 tones may be used to create a small TAU with 14 tones. Inthis aspect, there would be a total of 7 32-tone TAUs and 1 14-tone TAU,for a total of 8 TAUs, which may be divisible among 4 or 8 users.

FIG. 5 is similar to FIG. 3 in that, instead of 4 subbands, there are 7subbands. And each wireless device may be allocated one or more TAUs. Ascurrently depicted, however, when a wireless device is allocated TAU1,for example, and the wireless device transmits data using the allocatedTAU1, the transmitted data may be on adjacent and contiguous tones. Toperform distributed tone mapping in OFDMA, one may map the allocatedtones indices in TAU1, for example, to different set of physical tonesindices that are distributed over and span the bandwidth (or range oftone indices [−128:127] or [0:255]. In order words, TAU1 may beassociated with a nominal set of tone indices (e.g., the allocated toneindices) that may be logically mapped to a different physical set oftone indices.

FIG. 6 is a diagram 600 that shows distributed tone mapping usingtruncated bit reversal. In this case, assume that a resource block(e.g., TAU1) is associated with the tone indices depicted in column 2.Additional tone indices associated with the resource block are notdepicted to simplify the explanation of the method. Based on the toneindices in column 2, a binary representation of those tone indices isdetermined in column 3. In column 4, the bit order of column 3 isreversed. For example, “001” in column 3 is now “100” in column 4.Similarly, “011” in column 3 is “110” in column 4. Having reversed thebits, the distributed tone index in column 5 may be determined byconverting the binary bits in column 4 to decimal numbers in column 5.In truncated bit reversal, however, only usable tones are mapped. DCtones and guard tones are precluded from mapping. Assuming thedistributed tone index 0 is a DC tone, and the distributed tone indices3 and 4 are guard tones, these tones are deleted (shown as crossed out)from the mapping. The deleted tone indices are denoted by strikethroughsin FIG. 6. Having deleted the tones precluded from mapping, usable tonesindices 2, 6, 1, 5, 7 remain in column 5. Tone indices 2, 6, 1, 5, 7 maybe referred to as a set of physical tones associated with the resourceblock (e.g., TAU1). The tone indices 2, 6, 1, 5, 7 may be placed intotheir natural order in column 1. Column 1 represents a set of nominaltone indices that logically maps to a set of physical tone indices incolumn 5. For example, nominal tone index 1 maps to physical tone index2. Nominal tone index 2 maps to physical tone index 6. Nominal toneindex 5 maps to physical tone index 1. Nominal tone index 6 maps tophysical tone index 5. And nominal tone index 7 maps to physical toneindex 7. As such, the resource block (e.g., TAU1) will now be associatedwith a set of nominal tone indices 1, 2, 5, 6, 7 and set of physicaltone indices 2, 6, 1 5, 7. When a wireless device (e.g., the AP 202 orthe STA 212) is allocated resource block TAU1, for example, the wirelessdevice may be allocated the set of nominal tones indices 1, 2, 5, 6, 7that may be mapped to a different set of physical tone indices 2, 6, 1,5, 7.

In one example, the AP 202 may allocate a number of resource blocks(e.g., TAU1-7 in FIG. 5) for wireless communication. The AP 202 may beallocated TAU1 and may transmit data packets to the STA 212 using TAU1.TAU1 may be associated with the set of nominal tone indices 1, 2, 5, 6,7, which is logically mapped to the set of physical tone indices 2, 6,1, 5, 7, respectively. Both sets of tone indices may be associated withTAU1. When the AP 202 transmits data packets on TAU1, the data packetswill actually be transmitted on the mapped set of physical indices 2, 6,1, 5, 7. In one aspect, the AP 202 may have a mapping table thatlogically maps the set of nominal indices (column 1) to the set ofphysical indices (column 5). In the truncated bit reversal tone mappingmethod, the set of physical tones is based on a bit reversal function ofthe set of tone indices in column 3, and the set of physical tones(column 5) does not include DC tones and guard tones. The set of nominaltone indices 1, 2, 5, 6, 7 represents a natural order of the set ofphysical tone indices 2, 6, 1, 5, 7.

Continuing with the example, the STA 212 may receive the data packetsfrom the AP 202 over the distributed set of physical tone indices 2, 6,1, 5, 7 (column 5). Because the data packets may be out of order as aresult of the logical tone mapping, the STA 212 may perform de-mappingto place the data packets in the proper order. In one configuration, theSTA 212 may use Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) processing one the set ofphysical tone indices 2, 6, 1, 5, 7 to obtain the set of indices fromcolumn 2. In FFT processing, using radix-2 decimation in time, an inputof the tone indices in column 5 would output the tone indices in column2. After mapping the set of physical tone indices back to column 2, theSTA 212 may compare the column 2 tone indices with a mapping or look-uptable to determine the corresponding set of nominal tone indices oncolumn 1. In another configuration, the STA 212 may have a mapping tablethat directly maps column 5 to column 1. In this configuration, uponreceiving the data packets on the set of physical tone indices 2, 6, 1,5, 7 (column 5), the STA 212 may map the set of physical tone indices(column 5) to the set of nominal tone indices (column 1). Based on theset of nominal tone indices, the STA 212 may reorder the data packetsfor decoding.

Although this example is discussed with respect to downlink, the sameprocedure/method may be used for uplink. That is, the AP 202 mayallocate TAU1 to the STA 212 by transmitting a trigger message 216 tothe STA 212. The trigger message 216 may include the set of nominal toneindices associated with TAU1, and the set of nominal tone indices may belogically mapped to a set of physical tone indices 2, 6, 1, 5, 7. TheSTA 212 may receive the trigger message 216 containing the set ofnominal tone indices 1, 2, 5, 6, 7. The STA 212 may compare each toneindex in the set of nominal tone indices with a mapping table. Themapping table may indicate a tone index in the set of physical toneindices that corresponds to each tone index in the set of nominal toneindices. Based on this comparison with the mapping table, the STA 212may identify a set of physical tone indices that corresponds to thereceived set of nominal tone indices. The STA 212 may transmit datapackets over the set of nominal indices 1, 2, 5, 6, 7, and as a resultof the mapping, the data packets will actually be transmitted over theset of physical indices 2, 6, 1, 5, 7. The AP 202 may receive the datapackets over the set of physical indices and perform the de-mappingmentioned above to reorder the data packets for decoding.

Truncated bit reversal logical mapping may only be applicable to usabletones, as mentioned above. The number of usable tones is less than anFFT size for each corresponding bandwidth (e.g., 20 MHz, 40 MHz, 80 MHz)and may not be a power of 2. Also, depending on the differentbandwidths, the mapping tables would change. Truncated bit reversalmapping also excludes DC and guard tones from mapping. Other tonelocations, such as center block and left and right center blocks may beexcluded as well. In truncated bit reversal logical mapping, de-mappingmay not impose significant delay in receiver processing if theaforementioned FFT processing or mapping table is used. Additionally,pilot tones from different resource blocks may be more spread out due tothe bit reversal property. This could bring some processing gain whenusing downlink common pilots. Truncated bit reversal mapping is notdependent on the number of users.

TABLE 1 Example Logical Mapping for 20 MHz Symbol Nominal ToneDistributed Index Index Bit Reverse Tone Index  

 

 

11   2 00000010 01000000  64 12   3 00000011 11000000 192 13   400000100 00100000  32 14   5 00000101 10100000 160 15   6 0000011001100000  96 16   7 00000111 11100000 224 17   8 00001000 00010000  1618   9 00001001 10010000 144 19  10 00001010 01010000  80 20  1100001011 11010000 208 21  12 00001100 00110000  48 22  13 0000110110110000 176 23  14 00001110 01110000 112 24  15 00001111 11110000 240  

 

25  17 00010001 10001000 136 26  18 00010010 01001000  72 27  1900010011 11001000 200 28  20 00010100 00101000  40 29  21 0001010110101000 168 30  22 00010110 01101000 104 31  23 00010111 11101000 23232  24 00011000 00011000  24 33  25 00011001 10011000 152 34  2600011010 01011000  88 35  27 00011011 11011000 216 36  28 0001110000111000  56 37  29 00011101 10111000 184 38  30 00011110 01111000 120  

 

 

 

39  34 00100010 01000100  68 40  35 00100011 11000100 196 41  3600100100 00100100  36 42  37 00100101 10100100 164 43  38 0010011001100100 100 44  39 00100111 11100100 228 45  40 00101000 00010100  2046  41 00101001 10010100 148 47  42 00101010 01010100  84 48  4300101011 11010100 212 49  44 00101100 00110100  52 50  45 0010110110110100 180 51  46 00101110 01110100 116 52  47 00101111 11110100 24453  48 00110000 00001100  12 54  49 00110001 10001100 140 55  5000110010 01001100  76 56  51 00110011 11001100 204 57  52 0011010000101100  44 58  53 00110101 10101100 172 59  54 00110110 01101100 10860  55 00110111 11101100 236 61  56 00111000 00011100  28 62  5700111001 10011100 156 63  58 00111010 01011100  92 64  59 0011101111011100 220 65  60 00111100 00111100  60 66  61 00111101 10111100 188  

 

 

 

 

67  66 01000010 01000010  66 68  67 01000011 11000010 194 69  6801000100 00100010  34 70  69 01000101 10100010 162 71  70 0100011001100010  98 72  71 01000111 11100010 226 73  72 01001000 00010010  1874  73 01001001 10010010 146 75  74 01001010 01010010  82 76  7501001011 11010010 210 77  76 01001100 00110010  50 78  77 0100110110110010 178 79  78 01001110 01110010 114 80  79 01001111 11110010 242  

 

81  81 01010001 10001010 138 82  82 01010010 01001010  74 83  8301010011 11001010 202 84  84 01010100 00101010  42 85  85 0101010110101010 170 86  86 01010110 01101010 106 87  87 01010111 11101010 23488  88 01011000 00011010  26 89  89 01011001 10011010 154 90  9001011010 01011010  90 91  91 01011011 11011010 218 92  92 0101110000111010  58 93  93 01011101 10111010 186 94  94 01011110 01111010 122  

 

 

95  97 01100001 10000110 134 96  98 01100010 01000110  70 97  9901100011 11000110 198 98 100 01100100 00100110  38 99 101 0110010110100110 166 100 102 01100110 01100110 102 101 103 01100111 11100110 230102 104 01101000 00010110  22 103 105 01101001 10010110 150 104 10601101010 01010110  86 105 107 01101011 11010110 214 106 108 0110110000110110  54 107 109 01101101 10110110 182 108 110 01101110 01110110 118

109 112 01110000 00001110  14 110 113 01110001 10001110 142 111 11401110010 01001110  78 112 115 01110011 11001110 206 113 116 0111010000101110  46 114 117 01110101 10101110 174 115 118 01110110 01101110 110116 119 01110111 11101110 238 117 120 01111000 00011110  30 118 12101111001 10011110 158 119 122 01111010 01011110  94 120 123 0111101111011110 222 121 124 01111100 00111110  62 122 125 01111101 10111110 190

 

134 130 10000010 01000001  65 135 131 10000011 11000001 193 136 13210000100 00100001  33 137 133 10000101 10100001 161 138 134 1000011001100001  97 139 135 10000111 11100001 225 140 136 10001000 00010001  17141 137 10001001 10010001 145 142 138 10001010 01010001  81 143 13910001011 11010001 209 144 140 10001100 00110001  49 145 141 1000110110110001 177 146 142 10001110 01110001 113 147 143 10001111 11110001 241

 

148 145 10010001 10001001 137 149 146 10010010 01001001  73 150 14710010011 11001001 201 151 148 10010100 00101001  41 152 149 1001010110101001 169 153 150 10010110 01101001 105 154 151 10010111 11101001 233155 152 10011000 00011001  25 156 153 10011001 10011001 153 157 15410011010 01011001  89 158 155 10011011 11011001 217 159 156 1001110000111001  57 160 157 10011101 10111001 185 161 158 10011110 01111001 121

 

162 162 10100010 01000101  69 163 163 10100011 11000101 197 164 16410100100 00100101  37 165 165 10100101 10100101 165 166 166 1010011001100101 101 167 167 10100111 11100101 229 168 168 10101000 00010101  21169 169 10101001 10010101 149 170 170 10101010 01010101  85 171 17110101011 11010101 213 172 172 10101100 00110101  53 173 173 1010110110110101 181 174 174 10101110 01110101 117 175 175 10101111 11110101 245176 176 10110000 00001101  13 177 177 10110001 10001101 141 178 17810110010 01001101  77 179 179 10110011 11001101 205 180 180 1011010000101101  45 181 181 10110101 10101101 173 182 182 10110110 01101101 109183 183 10110111 11101101 237 184 184 10111000 00011101  29 185 18510111001 10011101 157 186 186 10111010 01011101  93 187 187 1011101111011101 221 188 188 10111100 00111101  61 189 189 10111101 10111101 189

 

190 194 11000010 01000011  67 191 195 11000011 11000011 195 192 19611000100 00100011  35 193 197 11000101 10100011 163 194 198 1100011001100011  99 195 199 11000111 11100011 227 196 200 11001000 00010011  19197 201 11001001 10010011 147 198 202 11001010 01010011  83 199 20311001011 11010011 211 200 204 11001100 00110011  51 201 205 1100110110110011 179 202 206 11001110 01110011 115 203 207 11001111 11110011 243204 208 11010000 00001011  11 205 209 11010001 10001011 139 206 21011010010 01001011  75 207 211 11010011 11001011 203 208 212 1101010000101011  43 209 213 11010101 10101011 171 210 214 11010110 01101011 107211 215 11010111 11101011 235 212 216 11011000 00011011  27 213 21711011001 10011011 155 214 218 11011010 01011011  91 215 219 1101101111011011 219 216 220 11011100 00111011  59 217 221 11011101 10111011 187

 

218 225 11100001 10000111 135 219 226 11100010 01000111  71 220 22711100011 11000111 199 221 228 11100100 00100111  39 222 229 1110010110100111 167 223 230 11100110 01100111 103 224 231 11100111 11100111 231225 232 11101000 00010111  23 226 233 11101001 10010111 151 227 23411101010 01010111  87 228 235 11101011 11010111 215 229 236 1110110000110111  55 230 237 11101101 10110111 183 231 238 11101110 01110111 119

232 240 11110000 00001111  15 233 241 11110001 10001111 143 234 24211110010 01001111  79 235 243 11110011 11001111 207 236 244 1111010000101111  47 237 245 11110101 10101111 175 238 246 11110110 01101111 111239 247 11110111 11101111 239 240 248 11111000 00011111  31 241 24911111001 10011111 159 242 250 11111010 01011111  95 243 251 1111101111011111 223 244 252 11111100 00111111  63 245 253 11111101 10111111 191

Table 1 illustrates an example logical mapping table for a 20 MHz symbolwith a 4× symbol duration based on truncated bit reversal mapping. Thislogical mapping table assumes that tone indices [0:10] and [246:255] arethe DC and 14 left over tones and tone indices [123:133] are the guardtones. DC tones, guard tones, and center block tones may be excludedfrom mapping. The usable tone indices in the range [11:122] and[134:245] have been logically mapped. Like in FIG. 6, Table 1 illustratevarious distributed tone indices (and their corresponding binary valuesand other related values) that are crossed out. The values in these rowsare crossed out (e.g., distributed tone index 4) because the distributedtone index corresponds to an unusable tone index (e.g. DC tone or guardtone) that may be precluded from being mapped. Other configurations ofDC tones and guard tones may also be used, which may yield a differentusable tone indices range.

In an aspect, truncated bit reversal mapping may not impose extra delayin receiver processing by using an FFT input/output sequence's indexingchange. Also, pilot tones from different resource blocks may be wellspread out due to the property of bit reversal permutation, which mayresult in processing gain when using downlink common pilots.

FIG. 7 illustrates diagrams 700, 750, 780 that show an exemplary toneindex mapping for implementing distributed tone mapping using arow-column interleaver function. FIG. 7 assumes that tone indices [0:10]and [123:133] are unusable, and thus, the total number of usable tones(e.g., on usable tone indices [11:122] and [134:245]) that may bedistributed can be written as number of tones=P*Q. The usable nominaltone indices, [11:122] and [134:245] may be written, row by row, into amatrix of dimension P*Q, and then read out column by column to determinethe distributed tone indices (or the set of physical tone indices thatmap to the set of nominal tone indices). For example, the diagram 700illustrates the usable tone indices for a 20 MHz symbol with a 4× symbolduration in which usable nominal tone indices are in the range of[11:122] and [134:245]. The usable nominal tone indices have beenwritten into a 7*32 matrix. In this matrix, the dimensions correspond tothe number of TAUs (or resource blocks) and the number of tones in eachTAU (or a resource block size). That is, P=7 and Q=32. As shownpreviously in FIG. 5, a 20 MHz symbol with 4× symbol duration may have 732-tone TAUs. In this example, each of the nominal tone indices has beenwritten into the 7*32 matrix of 7 rows and 32 columns.

To determine the logical tone index mapping, the interleaver matrix maybe read column by column to determine the nominal tone index that mapsto the corresponding physical tone index along each row. For example,reading the matrix down the first column, the nominal tone index 11corresponds to the physical tone index 11. The nominal tone index 43corresponds to the physical tone index 12. The nominal tone index 75corresponds to the physical tone index 13. The nominal tone index 107corresponds to the physical tone index 14 and so on. After reading theinterleaver matrix, a table may be created that maps each of the nominaltone indices with each of the physical tone indices.

Diagrams 750 and 780 illustrate exemplary TAUs that may be allocated toan AP or a STA. In diagram 750, as an example, TAU1 has been allocatedto an AP, and TAU1 has 32 nominal tone indices mapped to 32 physicaltone indices based on the interleaver matrix in diagram 700. Similarly,in diagram 780, as an example, TAU2 has been allocated to a STA, andTAU2 has 32 nominal tone indices logically mapped to 32 physical toneindices based on the interleaver matrix in diagram 700. In otherinstances, TAU1 and TAU2 may have more or less tone indices. TAU1 andTAU2 may both be allocated to an AP or a STA. Moreover, in thisinstance, the interleaver matrix in diagram 700 may support up to 7TAUs. However, in other instances, an interleaver matrix of a differentsize may support a different number of TAUs.

In an example, the AP 202 may allocate a number of resource blocks(e.g., TAU1, TAU2) for wireless communication. TAU1 may be allocated tothe AP 202, and TAU2 may be allocated to the STA 212. With respect toTAU1, diagram 750 shows the set of physical tone indices thatcorresponds to the set of nominal tone indices, in which both sets oftone indices are associated with TAU1. The physical set of tone indicesare based on an interleaver matrix function of the set of nominal toneindices. In diagram 780, assuming that TAU2 has been allocated to theSTA 212 (additional TAUs may be allocated to STA 212 and other STAs),the diagram 780 shows the set of physical tone indices that thatcorresponds to the set of nominal tone indices associated with TAU2.

Continuing with the example, if the AP 202 transmits data packets to theSTA 212 using the allocated resource block TAU1, the AP 202 may beallocated the set of nominal tone indices [11:42], but any data packettransmissions over TAU1 will actually be transmitted over the logicallymapped set of physical tone indices 11,18, 25, 32, 39, 46, 53, 60, 67,74, 81, 88, 95, 102, 109, 116, 134, 141, 148, 155, 162, 169, 176, 183,190, 197, 204, 211, 218, 225, 232, 239. That is, the logical mapping maybe transparent to the transmitting wireless device (the AP 202 or theSTA 212).

The STA 212 may receive the data packets over the set of physical toneindices corresponding to the TAU1. Using the interleaver matrix shown indiagram 700, the STA 212 may generate a mapping table (e.g., diagram750) in order to de-map the set of physical tone indices on which thedata packets were transmitted back to the set of nominal tone indices.Having de-mapped the set of physical tone indices back to the set ofnominal tone indices, the STA 212 may reorder the data packets.

Similar to the AP 202, the STA 212 may be allocated a resource block fortransmission. As shown in diagram 780, the STA 212, for example, may beallocated TAU2 for uplink transmission to the AP 202. The AP 202 maytransmit the allocation information to the STA 212 in a trigger message216. The allocation information may include an identifier. In oneconfiguration, the identifier may correspond to a resource block number.For example, for TAU2, the identifier may be equal to 2. For TAU1, theidentifier may be equal to 1, etc. The STA 212 may receive theallocation information related to the allocated resource block TAU2(e.g., identifier equal to 2) and determine a set of physical toneindices associated with TAU2. To determine the set of physical toneindices associated with TAU2, in one configuration, the STA 212 maydetermine an interleaver matrix according to a bandwidth size (e.g., theinterleaver matrix in diagram 700 is determined according to a bandwidthfor a 20 MHz, 4× symbol). Having determined the interleaver matrix, theSTA 212 may identify the set of nominal tone indices associated with theresource block associated with the received identifier in the triggermessage 216. Using the set of nominal tone indices, the STA 212 maydetermine or identify the set of physical tone indices that correspondto (or are logically mapped to) the set of nominal tone indices. Then,the STA 212 may transmit data packets on TAU2 over the set of physicaltone indices associated with TAU2. In another configuration, the STA 212may have a mapping table based on the interleaver matrix in which, foreach resource block, the set of nominal tone indices is mapped to thecorresponding set of physical tone indices. Upon receiving theidentifier corresponding to a particular resource block, the STA 212 mayuse the mapping table to determine the set of nominal tone indices andthe set of physical tone indices associated with the particular resourceblock.

With respect to row-column interleaver mapping, in one configuration, ifpilots have a fixed location in each resource block, then the pilotsfrom the same resource block will be evenly spread over the wholebandwidth. Pilots from different resource blocks, or different users,may cluster together. This arrangement may be beneficial for uplinkOFDMA. In another configuration, if walking pilots are used in theresource blocks (e.g., the pilot do not have a fixed location in eachresource block), then the pilots from different resource blocks may bemore evenly distributed over the entire bandwidth rather than beingclustered together. This scenario may be beneficial to single users ordownlink users so that single users and downlink users may enjoy theprocessing gain from using common pilots.

Row-column interleaver matrix mapping is different from binaryconvolution code (BCC) bit-interleaver in that the input into therow-column interleaver matrix used for logical mapping is a tone indexrather than coded bits. Moreover, the tones that need to be distributedinclude both data tones and pilot tones instead of just data tones.

Although FIG. 7, and specifically diagram 700, depicts the logicalmapping with respect to a 20 MHz, 4× symbol tone plan having a certainusable range of tone indices, similar mapping may be used for otherranges of tone indices and for a 40 MHz and 70 MHz, 4× tone plan. Inthose bandwidths, there may be 32*15 and 32*31 tones, respectively. Therespective interleaver matrices may have dimensions 15*32 and 31*32,with each row filled by the nominal tone indices in a resource block.Similar mappings for different symbol durations may also be used.

FIG. 8 illustrates diagrams 800, 830, 860 that show an exemplary toneindex mapping using distance based logical mapping. Distance basedlogical mapping may be applicable to usable tones. DC tones, guardtones, and other special blocks may not be included in the mapping. Indistance based logical mapping, the set of physical tone indices is alsobased on the set of nominal tone indices. To determine the set ofphysical tone indices, an intermediary set of indices is firstdetermined. The intermediary set of indices may be determined accordingto the following equation:

intermediary index=i*D _(m) +k

In the above equation, i is the local tone index associated with aresource block. For a resource block with 32 tones, i may have a valuefrom 0 to 31. D_(m) is the mapping distance, and, in one configuration,D_(m) may be determined by the populating distance (or the distancebetween adjacent tones that belong to the same resource block/user suchthat the total per user transmit power in not limited by a PSDlimitation. If the mapping distance is determined by the populatingdistance, then distance based logical mapping may be independent of thenumber of users. In another configuration, D_(m) may be determined bythe number of resource blocks or the number of users such that themapping is tone plan allocation dependent or user dependent. Forexample, if there are 7 users, D_(m) may be equal to 7, and k may be theresource block or user index that may be used as an offset value. In a20 MHz, 4× symbol, in which 7 TAUs are allocated with 32 tones each, kmay have a value from 0 to 6. The intermediary index may be an indexarray whose values correspond to an index position in the set of nominalindices.

Referring back to FIG. 8, diagram 800 illustrates how distance basedlogical mapping may be performed with respect to TAU1 in a 20 MHz, 4×symbol in which 7 TAUs are allocated with 32 tones. In diagram 800, thefirst column represents the set of nominal tone indices associated withTAU1. The second column represents the values for i. The third columnrepresents the corresponding intermediary array of indices. And thefourth column represents the set of physical tone indices determinedbased on the intermediary index array and the set of nominal toneindices. In diagram 800, for i=0-31 and k=0, the intermediary index is0, 7, 14, 21, . . . , 217. Each value in the intermediary indexcorresponds to an index position in the set of nominal tone indices. Forexample, intermediary index 0 corresponds to a first tone index in theset of nominal tone indices. For a 20 MHz, 4× symbol, the first usabletone index is 11. Similarly, intermediary index 7 corresponds to aneighth tone index in the set of nominal tone indices, which is equal to18. Intermediary index 14 corresponds to a fifteenth tone index in theset of nominal tone indices, which is equal to 25. Likewise,intermediary index 112 corresponds to the one hundred and thirteenthtone index in the set of nominal tone indices, which is equal to 134.

In some cases, the intermediary index may exceed the maximum distributedtone index (e.g., when D_(m)=8, i=31, and k=6, intermediary index=254,assuming a maximum distributed tone index of 245). In this case, amodulo operation may be performed with respect to the intermediary indexand the maximum distributed tone index, and the new intermediary indexmay be the result of the modulo operation (e.g., new intermediaryindex=modulo(254,245)=9). A physical tone index can be determined basedon the new intermediary index, in which the new physical tone index isequal to the nominal tone index with an index position equal to the newintermediary index (e.g., if new intermediary index=9, the new physicaltone index=19). This operation may violate the power spectrum densitylimitation because more tones may be populated in certain tone indicesif data is transmitted at the peak power. For a subband in 20 MHz, themapping used to distribute across the 20 MHz using a mapping distance of4 (D_(m)) may almost violate the PSD limit. Moreover, if a mappingdistance of 8 (D_(m)) is used, due to a large amount of power on each ofthe populated tones, the PSD limit will be surpassed as shown above. Forsubbands 40 MHz and 80 MHz, however, any mapping distance is safe to usedue to the large number of populated tones that may be used to share thetotal power.

In an example, the AP 202 may allocate a number of resource blocks(e.g., TAU1, TAU2, . . . , TAU7) for wireless communication. TAU1 may beallocated to the AP 202, and TAU2 may be allocated to the STA 212. Withrespect to TAU1, diagram 800 shows the set of physical tone indices thatcorresponds to the set of nominal tone indices, in which both sets oftone indices are associated with TAU1. The set of nominal tone indicesis mapped to a corresponding tone index in the second set of toneindices based on an equation for determining an intermediary index, asdiscussed above. In one configuration, assuming the AP 202 is allocatedTAU1, which is a resource block that corresponds to a 20 MHz, 4× symbol,the set of nominal tone indices has a range of [11:42]. Using theaforementioned equation, the AP 202 may determine an intermediary arrayof indices that correspond to the tone indices positions in the set ofnominal tone indices. With that information, the AP 202 may determineeach corresponding physical tone index with respect to each nominal toneindex. In another configuration, the AP 202 may have a preconfiguredmapping table that maps each nominal tone index to a correspondingphysical tone index. Having determined a set of physical tone indices,the AP 202 may transmit data packets on TAU1, in which the data packetstransmitted on the set of nominal tone indices will actually betransmitted on the set of physical tone indices.

Continuing with the example, the STA 212 may receive the data packetsover the set of physical tone indices corresponding to the TAU1. Basedon the intermediary index formula discussed above, the STA 212 mayde-map the set of physical tone indices on which the data packets weretransmitted back to the set of nominal tone indices. To do so, the STA212 may determine the index position of the nominal tone index thatcorresponds to the physical tone index on which each data packet wasreceived. The STA 212 may subtract the index position of the nominaltone index by an offset value (e.g., the value of k), and then dividethe difference by a scaling factor (e.g., the scaling factor, D_(m)).The STA 212 may then reorder the data packets based on the determinedsecond set of tone indices (nominal tone indices).

Similar to the AP 202, the STA 212 may be allocated a resource block fortransmission. As shown in diagram 830, the STA 212, for example, may beallocated TAU2 for uplink transmission to the AP 202. Additional TAUsmay be allocated to the STA 212 and other STAs. The AP 202 may transmitthe allocation information to the STA 212 in a trigger message 216. Theallocation information may include at least one of an identifier (e.g.,an identifier corresponding to the resource block number 2 for TAU2), aresource block size (e.g., a number related to the number of usabletones in a resource block), or a set of nominal tone indicescorresponding to the resource block (e.g., [43:74] for TAU2). The STA212 may receive the allocation information related to the allocatedresource block TAU2 and determine a set of physical tone indicesassociated with TAU2. In one configuration, if only an identifierassociated with the resource block is included in the allocationinformation, then resource block size may be preconfigured and known tothe STA 212. The scaling factor is also preconfigured within the STA212. Accordingly, the set of nominal tone indices may also be known tothe STA. As such, using the identifier, the STA may calculate theintermediary index, and with the intermediary index, determine the setof physical tone indices. In another configuration, the resource blocksize may be variable. In this configuration, the STA 212 may receive anidentifier associated with the resource block along with a resourceblock size. In an aspect, the D_(m) scaling factor is preconfiguredwithin the STA 212. In this configuration, the STA 212 may calculate theintermediary index array based on the resource block size, the scalingfactor D_(m), and the identifier. Then, using the intermediary indexarray, the STA 212 may determine the set of physical tone indicescorresponding to TAU2. Having determined the set of physical toneindices corresponding to TAU2, the STA 212 may transmit data packets inTAU 2 to the AP 202.

The advantage of distance based logical mapping is that there is simpledirect-de-mapping procedure. No buffering and waiting is needed as eachphysical tone index may be immediately de-mapped back to the nominaltone index. For pilot tones, if the pilots are in a fixed location ineach resource block, then the pilots from the same block will be evenlyspread over the whole bandwidth, and pilots from different resourceblocks or different users would cluster together. This is beneficial foruplink OFDMA. If walking pilots are used in resource blocks and pilotlocations vary from block to block, then the pilots from differentresource blocks would be more evenly distributed over the entirebandwidth rather than clustering together. This would be beneficial tosingle user or downlink users because single users and downlink userswould be able to take advantage of the processing gain from using commonpilots.

FIG. 9 is a functional block diagram of a wireless device 902 that maybe employed within the wireless communication system 100 of FIG. 1 fortransmitting on tone mapped resource blocks and allocating tone mappedresource blocks. The wireless device 902 is an example of a device thatmay be configured to implement the various methods described herein. Forexample, the wireless device 902 may be the AP 104 or the AP 202.

The wireless device 902 may include a processor 904 which controlsoperation of the wireless device 902. The processor 904 may also bereferred to as a central processing unit (CPU). Memory 906, which mayinclude both read-only memory (ROM) and random access memory (RAM), mayprovide instructions and data to the processor 904. A portion of thememory 906 may also include non-volatile random access memory (NVRAM).The processor 904 typically performs logical and arithmetic operationsbased on program instructions stored within the memory 906. Theinstructions in the memory 906 may be executable (by the processor 904,for example) to implement the methods described herein.

The processor 904 may comprise or be a component of a processing systemimplemented with one or more processors. The one or more processors maybe implemented with any combination of general-purpose microprocessors,microcontrollers, digital signal processors (DSPs), field programmablegate array (FPGAs), programmable logic devices (PLDs), controllers,state machines, gated logic, discrete hardware components, dedicatedhardware finite state machines, or any other suitable entities that canperform calculations or other manipulations of information.

The processing system may also include machine-readable media forstoring software. Software shall be construed broadly to mean any typeof instructions, whether referred to as software, firmware, middleware,microcode, hardware description language, or otherwise. Instructions mayinclude code (e.g., in source code format, binary code format,executable code format, or any other suitable format of code). Theinstructions, when executed by the one or more processors, cause theprocessing system to perform the various functions described herein.

The wireless device 902 may also include a housing 908, and the wirelessdevice 902 that may include a transmitter 910 and/or a receiver 912 toallow transmission and reception of data between the wireless device 902and a remote device. The transmitter 910 and the receiver 912 may becombined into a transceiver 914. An antenna 916 may be attached to thehousing 908 and electrically coupled to the transceiver 914. Thewireless device 902 may also include multiple transmitters, multiplereceivers, multiple transceivers, and/or multiple antennas.

The wireless device 902 may also include a signal detector 918 that maybe used to detect and quantify the level of signals received by thetransceiver 914 or the receiver 912. The signal detector 918 may detectsuch signals as total energy, energy per subcarrier per symbol, powerspectral density, and other signals. The wireless device 902 may alsoinclude a digital signal processor (DSP) 920 for use in processingsignals. The DSP 920 may be configured to generate a packet fortransmission. In some aspects, the packet may comprise a physical layerconvergence procedure (PLCP) protocol data unit (PPDU).

The wireless device 902 may further comprise a user interface 922 insome aspects. The user interface 922 may comprise a keypad, amicrophone, a speaker, and/or a display. The user interface 922 mayinclude any element or component that conveys information to a user ofthe wireless device 902 and/or receives input from the user.

When the wireless device 902 is implemented as an AP (e.g., AP 104, AP202), the wireless device 902 may also comprise a tone allocationcomponent 924. The tone allocation component 924 may be configured toallocate a plurality of resource blocks (e.g., allocated TAU 928) forwireless communication. The tone allocation component 924 may beconfigured to transmit, via the transmitter 910 or the transceiver 914,data on a first resource block of the plurality of resource blocks, inwhich the first resource block may be associated with a first set oftone indices (e.g., tone indices 930) and a second set of tone indices.The first set of tone indices may be a set of nominal tone indices thatis logically mapped to a second set of tone indices that is a set ofphysical tone indices. In an aspect, the second set of tone indices maybe based on bit reversal function of a third set of tone indices, thesecond set of tone indices may not include direct current tones andguard tones, and the first set of tone indices represents a naturalorder of the second set of tone indices. In another aspect, the secondset of tone indices may be based on an interleaver matrix function ofthe first set of tone indices, and an input into the interleaver matrixfunction may be a set of tone indices. In another aspect, each toneindex in the first set of tone indices may be mapped to a correspondingtone index in the second set of tone indices based on an equation,f(x)=i*D_(m)+k, in which i is a local tone index associated with thefirst resource block, D_(m) is a scaling factor, k is a resource blocknumber associated with the first resource block, and f(x) is an indexposition related to the first set of tone indices. In this aspect, thecorresponding tone index in the second set of tone indices maycorrespond to a tone index in the first set of tone indices having theindex position of f(x). In another aspect, when f(x) is greater than aMaxToneIndex, the MaxToneIndex may represent a maximum distributed toneindex, f(x) may be determined by a second equation,mod(f(x),MaxToneIndex), and the corresponding tone index in the secondset of tone indices may correspond to a tone index in the first set oftone indices having the index position equal to mod(f(x),MaxToneIndex).In another configuration, the tone allocation component 924 may beconfigured to transmit allocation information related to a secondresource block, in which the second resource block may be associatedwith a third set of tone indices and a fourth set of tone indices, thethird set of tone indices may be a set of nominal tone indices that islogically mapped to the fourth set of tone indices that is a set ofphysical tone indices, and the allocation information may include atleast one of the third set of tone indices, an identifier, a resourceblock size, or the fourth set of tone indices. In another configuration,the tone allocation component 924 may be configured to receive aplurality of data packets from a wireless device over a third set oftone indices associated with a second resource block, in which each datapacket of the plurality of data packets is received over a tone index ofthe third set of tone indices, and to determine a fourth set of toneindices associated with the second resource block based on the third setof tone indices, in which the third set of tone indices is a set ofphysical tone indices that is logically mapped to the fourth set of toneindices that is a set of nominal tone indices. In another configuration,the tone allocation component 924 may be configured to reorder thereceived plurality of data packets based on the fourth set of toneindices. The tone allocation component 924 may be configured to reorderby determining a tone index in the third set of tone indices on whicheach data packet of the plurality of data packets was received, bydetermining a corresponding tone index in the fourth set of tone indicesfor each tone index on which each data packet of the plurality of datapackets was received, and by rearranging the plurality of data packetsbased an order of each corresponding tone index in the fourth set oftone indices. In another configuration, the tone allocation component924 may be configured to determine the fourth set of tone indices bydetermining a fifth set of tone indices based on the third set of toneindices and by comparing the fifth set of tone indices with a mappingtable, in which the mapping table maps the fifth set of tone indices tothe fourth set of tone indices. In another aspect, the fourth set oftone indices is determined based on an interleaver matrix function andthe third set of tone indices. In another configuration, the toneallocation component 924 may be configured to determine the fourth setof tone indices, for each tone index in the third set of tone indices,by determining an index position of a corresponding tone index in thefourth set of tone indices subtracting the index position by an offsetvalue and by dividing the difference by a scaling factor.

The various components of the wireless device 902 may be coupledtogether by a bus system 926. The bus system 926 may include a data bus,for example, as well as a power bus, a control signal bus, and a statussignal bus in addition to the data bus. Components of the wirelessdevice 902 may be coupled together or accept or provide inputs to eachother using some other mechanism.

Although a number of separate components are illustrated in FIG. 9, oneor more of the components may be combined or commonly implemented. Forexample, the processor 904 may be used to implement not only thefunctionality described above with respect to the processor 904, butalso to implement the functionality described above with respect to thesignal detector 918, the DSP 920, the user interface 922, and/or thetone allocation component 924. Further, each of the componentsillustrated in FIG. 9 may be implemented using a plurality of separateelements.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart of an exemplary method 1000 of wirelesscommunication for transmitting on tone mapped resource blocks andallocating tone mapped resource blocks. The method 1000 may be performedusing an apparatus (e.g., the AP 104 or the AP 202, for example).Although the method 1000 is described below with respect to the elementsof wireless device 902 of FIG. 9, other components may be used toimplement one or more of the steps described herein. In FIG. 10, theblocks indicated with dotted lines represent optional operations.

At block 1005, the apparatus may allocate a plurality of resource blocksfor wireless communication. For example, referring to FIG. 2, theapparatus may be the AP 202. The AP 202 may determine an availabilitynumber of resource blocks for allocation and a number of wirelessdevices to which resource blocks may be allocated. The AP 202 maydetermine that TAU1-TAU7 are available for wireless communication. TAU1may be allocated to the AP 202, TAU2 may be allocated to the STA 212,and the remaining TAU3-7 may be allocated to one or more other STAs.

At block 1010, the apparatus may transmit data on a first resource blockof the plurality of resource blocks. The first resource block may beassociated with a first set of tone indices and a second set of toneindices, and the first set of tone indices may be a set of nominal toneindices that is logically mapped to a second set of tone indices that isa set of physical tone indices. In a row-column interleaver example, thefirst resource block may be TAU1, and the first set of tone indices maybe the nominal set of tone indices and the second set of tone indicesmay be the physical set of tone indices. As shown in diagram 750 of FIG.7, the nominal set of tone indices is mapped to a physical set of toneindices.

At block 1015, the apparatus may transmit allocation information relatedto a second resource block. The second resource block may be associatedwith a third set of tone indices and a fourth set of tone indices, andthe third set of tone indices is a set of nominal tone indices that islogically mapped to the fourth set of tone indices that is a set ofphysical tone indices. In an aspect, the allocation information mayinclude at least one of the third set of tone indices, an identifier, aresource block size, or the fourth set of tone indices. In a row-columninterleaver example, the second resource black may be TAU2, and thethird set of tone indices may be the set of nominal tone indicesassociated with TAU2, and the fourth set of tone indices may be the setof physical tone indices associated with TAU2. As shown in diagram 780of FIG. 7, the set of nominal tone indices associated with TAU2 islogically mapped to the set of physical tone indices associated withTAU2.

At block 1020, the apparatus may receive a plurality of data packetsfrom a wireless device over a third set of tone indices associated witha second resource block. Each data packet of the plurality of datapackets may be received over a tone index of the third set of toneindices.

At block 1025, the apparatus may determine a fourth set of tone indicesassociated with the second resource block based on the third set of toneindices. The third set of tone indices is a set of physical tone indicesthat is logically mapped to the fourth set of tone indices that is a setof nominal tone indices.

At block 1030, the apparatus may reorder the received plurality of datapackets based on the fourth set of tone indices.

For example, referring to FIGS. 2 and 6, using a truncated bit reversalexample, the AP 202 may receive a plurality of data packets from the STA212 over a first set of physical tone indices 2, 6, 1 5, 7 (e.g., thethird set of tone indices). Each of the data packets may be receivedover a tone index (e.g., tone index 2). The AP 202 may determine a setof nominal tone indices associated with the resource block (e.g., thesecond resource block). The set of physical tone indices may belogically mapped to the set of nominal tone indices. Having determinedthe set of nominal tone indices, the AP 202 may reorder or rearrange thedata packets into the proper order intended by the STA 212. In thisexample, physical tone index 1 may have data packet 3. Physical toneindex 2 may have data packet 1. Physical tone index 5 may have datapacket 4. Physical tone index 6 may have data packet 2. And physicaltone index 7 may have data packet 5. If the data packets were arrangedaccording to the physical tone indices on which the data packets weresent, the order for the data packets would be data packets 3, 1, 4, 2,5. As such the data packets would be out of order for decoding. Byde-mapping to recover the set of nominal tone indices to which the setof physical tone indices is mapped, data packet 1 will be associatedwith nominal tone index 1, data packet 2 will be associated with nominaltone index 2, data packet 3 will be associated with nominal tone index5, data packet 4 will be associated with nominal tone index 6, and datapacket 5 will be associated with nominal tone index 7. Thus, if the datapackets were arranged according to the nominal tone indices 1, 2, 5, 6,7, the data packets would be in the order of data packet 1, 2, 3, 4, 5,which can be properly decoded.

FIG. 11 is a functional block diagram of an exemplary wirelesscommunication device 1100 for transmitting on tone mapped resourceblocks and allocating tone mapped resource blocks. The wirelesscommunication device 1100 may include a receiver 1105, a processingsystem 1110, and a transmitter 1115. The processing system 1110 mayinclude a tone allocation component 1124, a tone index conversioncomponent 1126, and/or a packet rearranging component 1128. The toneallocation component 1124 and/or the processing system 1110 may beconfigured to allocate a plurality of resource blocks (e.g., allocatedTAUs 1130) for wireless communication. The processing system 1110, thetone allocation component 1124, and/or the transmitter 1115 may beconfigured to transmit data on a first resource block of the pluralityof resource blocks, in which the first resource block is associated witha first set of tone indices (e.g., associated tone indices 1132) and asecond set of tone indices, and the first set of tone indices is a setof nominal tone indices that is logically mapped to a second set of toneindices that is a set of physical tone indices. In another aspect, thesecond set of tone indices is based on bit reversal function of a thirdset of tone indices, the second set of tone indices does not includedirect current tones and guard tones, and the first set of tone indicesrepresents a natural order of the second set of tone indices. In anaspect, the second set of tone indices is based on an interleaver matrixfunction of the first set of tone indices, and an input into theinterleaver matrix function is a set of tone indices. In another aspect,each tone index in the first set of tone indices is mapped to acorresponding tone index in the second set of tone indices based on anequation, f(x)=i*D_(m)+k, in which i is a local tone index associatedwith the first resource block, D_(m) is a scaling factor, k is aresource block number associated with the first resource block, and f(x)is an index position related to the first set of tone indices. In thisaspect, the corresponding tone index in the second set of tone indicescorresponds to a tone index in the first set of tone indices having theindex position of f(x). In another aspect, f(x) is greater than aMaxToneIndex, MaxToneIndex represents a maximum distributed tone index,f(x) is determined by a second equation, mod(f(x),MaxToneIndex), and thecorresponding tone index in the second set of tone indices correspondsto a tone index in the first set of tone indices having the indexposition equal to mod(f(x),MaxToneIndex). In another configuration, theprocessing system 1110, the tone allocation component 1124, and/or thetransmitter 1115 may be configured to transmit allocation informationrelated to a second resource block. In this configuration, the secondresource block is associated with a third set of tone indices and afourth set of tone indices, and the third set of tone indices is a setof nominal tone indices that is logically mapped to the fourth set oftone indices that is a set of physical tone indices. In thisconfiguration, the allocation information includes at least one of thethird set of tone indices, an identifier, a resource block size, or thefourth set of tone indices. In another configuration, the processingsystem 1110, the tone allocation component 1124, and/or the receiver1105 may be configured to receive a plurality of data packets (e.g.,data packets 1136) from a wireless device over a third set of toneindices associated with a second resource block, in which each datapacket of the plurality of data packets is received over a tone index ofthe third set of tone indices. In this configuration, the processingsystem 1110, the tone allocation component 1124, and/or the tone indexconversion component 1126 may be configured to determine a fourth set oftone indices (e.g., converted tone indices 1134) associated with thesecond resource block based on the third set of tone indices, in whichthe third set of tone indices is a set of physical tone indices that islogically mapped to the fourth set of tone indices that is a set ofnominal tone indices. In another configuration, the processing system1110, the tone allocation component 1124, and/or the packet rearrangingcomponent 1128 may be configured to reorder the received plurality ofdata packets based on the fourth set of tone indices. In thisconfiguration, the processing system 1110, the tone allocation component1124, the tone index conversion component 1126, and/or the packetrearranging component 1128 may be configured to reorder by determining atone index in the third set of tone indices on which each data packet ofthe plurality of data packets was received, by determining acorresponding tone index in the fourth set of tone indices for each toneindex on which each data packet of the plurality of data packets wasreceived, and by rearranging the plurality of data packets based anorder of each corresponding tone index in the fourth set of toneindices. In another configuration, the processing system 1110, the toneallocation component 1124, and/or the tone index conversion component1126 may be configured to determine the fourth set of tone indices bydetermining a fifth set of tone indices based on the third set of toneindices and by comparing the fifth set of tone indices with a mappingtable, in which the mapping table maps the fifth set of tone indices tothe fourth set of tone indices. In an aspect, the fourth set of toneindices is determined based on an interleaver matrix function and thethird set of tone indices. In another configuration, the processingsystem 1110, the tone allocation component 1124, and/or the tone indexconversion component 1126 may be configured to determine the fourth setof tone indices, for each tone index in the third set of tone indices,by determining an index position of a corresponding tone index in thefourth set of tone indices, by subtracting the index position by anoffset value, and by dividing the difference by a scaling factor.

The receiver 1105, the processing system 1110, the tone allocationcomponent 1124, the tone index conversion component 1126, the packetrearranging component 1128, and/or the transmitter 1115 may beconfigured to perform one or more functions discussed above with respectto blocks 1005, 1010, 1015, 1020, 1025, and 1030 of FIG. 10. Thereceiver 1105 may correspond to the receiver 912. The processing system1110 may correspond to the processor 904. The transmitter 1115 maycorrespond to the transmitter 910. The tone allocation component 1124may correspond to the tone allocation component 124 and/or the toneallocation component 924.

In one configuration, the wireless communication device 1100 includesmeans for allocating a plurality of resource blocks for wirelesscommunication. The wireless communication device 1100 includes means fortransmitting data on a first resource block of the plurality of resourceblocks. The first resource block may be associated with a first set oftone indices and a second set of tone indices, and the first set of toneindices may be a set of nominal tone indices that is logically mapped toa second set of tone indices that is a set of physical tone indices. Inan aspect, the second set of tone indices may be based on bit reversalfunction of a third set of tone indices, and the second set of toneindices may not include direct current tones and guard tones, and thefirst set of tone indices may represent a natural order of the secondset of tone indices. In another aspect, the second set of tone indicesmay be based on an interleaver matrix function of the first set of toneindices, and an input into the interleaver matrix function may be a setof tone indices. In another aspect, each tone index in the first set oftone indices may be mapped to a corresponding tone index in the secondset of tone indices based on an equation, f(x)=i*Dm+k, in which i is alocal tone index associated with the first resource block, Dm is ascaling factor, k is a resource block number associated with the firstresource block, and f(x) is an index position related to the first setof tone indices, and the corresponding tone index in the second set oftone indices may correspond to a tone index in the first set of toneindices having the index position of f(x). In another aspect, when f(x)is greater than a MaxToneIndex, the MaxToneIndex representing a maximumdistributed tone index, f(x) may be determined by a second equation,mod(f(x),MaxToneIndex), and the corresponding tone index in the secondset of tone indices may correspond to a tone index in the first set oftone indices having the index position equal to mod(f(x),MaxToneIndex).In another configuration, the wireless communication device 1100 mayinclude means for transmitting allocation information related to asecond resource block. The second resource block may be associated witha third set of tone indices and a fourth set of tone indices, and thethird set of tone indices may be a set of nominal tone indices that islogically mapped to the fourth set of tone indices that is a set ofphysical tone indices, and the allocation information may include atleast one of the third set of tone indices, an identifier, a resourceblock size, or the fourth set of tone indices. In another configuration,the wireless communication device 1100 may include means for receiving aplurality of data packets from a wireless device over a third set oftone indices associated with a second resource block, in which each datapacket of the plurality of data packets is received over a tone index ofthe third set of tone indices. In this configuration, the wirelesscommunication device 1100 may include means for determining a fourth setof tone indices associated with the second resource block based on thethird set of tone indices, in which the third set of tone indices may bea set of physical tone indices that is logically mapped to the fourthset of tone indices that is a set of nominal tone indices. In anotherconfiguration, the wireless communication device 1100 may include meansfor reordering the received plurality of data packets based on thefourth set of tone indices. In an aspect, the means for reordering maybe configured to determine a tone index in the third set of tone indiceson which each data packet of the plurality of data packets was received,to determine a corresponding tone index in the fourth set of toneindices for each tone index on which each data packet of the pluralityof data packets was received, and to rearrange the plurality of datapackets based an order of each corresponding tone index in the fourthset of tone indices. In another aspect, the means for determining thefourth set of tone indices may be configured to determine a fifth set oftone indices based on the third set of tone indices and to compare thefifth set of tone indices with a mapping table, in which the mappingtable maps the fifth set of tone indices to the fourth set of toneindices. In another aspect, the fourth set of tone indices may bedetermined based on an interleaver matrix function and the third set oftone indices. In another aspect, the means for determining the fourthset of tone indices may be configured to, for each tone index in thethird set of tone indices, determine an index position of acorresponding tone index in the fourth set of tone indices, to subtractthe index position by an offset value, and to divide the difference by ascaling factor.

For example, means for allocating a plurality of resource blocks forwireless communication may comprise the processing system 1110 and/orthe tone allocation component 1124. Means for transmitting data on afirst resource block of the plurality of resource blocks may comprisethe processing system 1110, the tone allocation component 1124, and/orthe transmitter 1115. Means for transmitting allocation informationrelated to a second resource block may comprise the processing system1110, the tone allocation component 1124, and/or the transmitter 1115.Means for receiving a plurality of data packets may comprise theprocessing system 1110, the tone allocation component 1124, and/or thereceiver 1105. Means for determining a fourth set of tone indices maycomprise the processing system 1110, the tone allocation component 1124,and/or the tone index conversion component 1126. Means for reorderingthe received plurality of data packets may comprise the processingsystem 1110, the tone allocation component 1124, and/or the packetrearranging component 1128.

FIG. 12 is a functional block diagram of a wireless device 1202 that maybe employed within the wireless communication system 100 of FIG. 1 fortransmitting on tone mapped resource blocks. The wireless device 1202 isan example of a device that may be configured to implement the variousmethods described herein. For example, the wireless device 1202 may bethe STAs 112, 114, 116, 118, or the STAs 206, 208, 210, 212.

The wireless device 1202 may include a processor 1204 which controlsoperation of the wireless device 1202. The processor 1204 may also bereferred to as a CPU. Memory 1206, which may include both ROM and RAM,may provide instructions and data to the processor 1204. A portion ofthe memory 1206 may also include NVRAM. The processor 1204 typicallyperforms logical and arithmetic operations based on program instructionsstored within the memory 1206. The instructions in the memory 1206 maybe executable (by the processor 1204, for example) to implement themethods described herein.

The processor 1204 may comprise or be a component of a processing systemimplemented with one or more processors. The one or more processors maybe implemented with any combination of general-purpose microprocessors,microcontrollers, DSPs) FPGAs, PLDs, controllers, state machines, gatedlogic, discrete hardware components, dedicated hardware finite statemachines, or any other suitable entities that can perform calculationsor other manipulations of information.

The processing system may also include machine-readable media forstoring software. Software shall be construed broadly to mean any typeof instructions, whether referred to as software, firmware, middleware,microcode, hardware description language, or otherwise. Instructions mayinclude code (e.g., in source code format, binary code format,executable code format, or any other suitable format of code). Theinstructions, when executed by the one or more processors, cause theprocessing system to perform the various functions described herein.

The wireless device 1202 may also include a housing 1208, and thewireless device 1202 may include a transmitter 1210 and/or a receiver1212 to allow transmission and reception of data between the wirelessdevice 1202 and a remote device. The transmitter 1210 and the receiver1212 may be combined into a transceiver 1214. An antenna 1216 may beattached to the housing 1208 and electrically coupled to the transceiver1214. The wireless device 1202 may also include multiple transmitters,multiple receivers, multiple transceivers, and/or multiple antennas.

The wireless device 1202 may also include a signal detector 1218 thatmay be used to detect and quantify the level of signals received by thetransceiver 1214 or the receiver 1212. The signal detector 1218 maydetect such signals as total energy, energy per subcarrier per symbol,power spectral density, and other signals. The wireless device 1202 mayalso include a DSP 1220 for use in processing signals. The DSP 1220 maybe configured to generate a packet for transmission. In some aspects,the packet may comprise a PPDU.

The wireless device 1202 may further comprise a user interface 1222 insome aspects. The user interface 1222 may comprise a keypad, amicrophone, a speaker, and/or a display. The user interface 1222 mayinclude any element or component that conveys information to a user ofthe wireless device 1202 and/or receives input from the user. When thewireless device 1202 is implemented as a STA (e.g., the STA 114, the STA206), the wireless device 1202 may also comprise a tone mappingcomponent 1224. The tone mapping component 1224 may be configuredreceive allocation information related to at least one allocatedresource block (e.g., an allocated TAU 1228), via the receiver 1212 orthe transceiver 1214. The tone mapping component 1224 may be configuredto determine a first set of tone indices (e.g., tone indices 1230)associated with the at least one allocated resource block based on thereceived allocation information. The first set of tone indices may be afunction of a second set of tone indices associated with the at leastone allocated resource block. The first set of tone indices may be a setof physical tone indices, and the second set of tone indices may be aset of nominal tone indices. The tone mapping component 1224 may beconfigured to transmit data on the determined first set of tone indicesassociated with the at least one allocated resource block. In an aspect,the allocation information may include the second set of tone indices.In this aspect, the tone mapping component 1224 may be configured todetermine the first set of tone indices by comparing each tone index inthe second set of tone indices with a mapping table, in which themapping table indicates which tone index from the first set of toneindices corresponds to each tone index in the second set of toneindices, and by identifying a tone index from the first set of toneindices that corresponds to each tone index in the second set of toneindices. In another configuration, the allocation information mayinclude at least one identifier, and the at least one identifier may beassociated with the at least one allocated resource block. In thisconfiguration, the tone mapping component 1224 may be configured todetermine the first set of tone indices by determining the first set oftone indices as a function of the at least one identifier. In anotherconfiguration, the tone mapping component 1224 may be configured todetermine the first set of tone indices by determining an interleavermatrix according to a bandwidth size and by determining the first set oftone indices based on the interleaver matrix and the at least oneidentifier. In another configuration, the tone mapping component 1224may be configured to receive a plurality of data packets from a wirelessdevice over a third set of tone indices associated with a secondresource block, in which each data packet of the plurality of datapackets is received over a tone index of the third set of tone indices,and to determine a fourth set of tone indices associated with the secondresource block based on the third set of tone indices, in which thethird set of tone indices is a set of physical tone indices that islogically mapped to the fourth set of tone indices that is a set ofnominal tone indices. In another configuration, the tone mappingcomponent 1224 may be configured to reorder the received plurality ofdata packets based on the fourth set of tone indices. The tone mappingcomponent 1224 may be configured to reorder by determining a tone indexin the third set of tone indices on which each data packet of theplurality of data packets was received, by determining a correspondingtone index in the fourth set of tone indices for each tone index onwhich each data packet of the plurality of data packets was received,and by rearranging the plurality of data packets based an order of eachcorresponding tone index in the fourth set of tone indices. In anotherconfiguration, the tone mapping component 1224 may be configured todetermine the fourth set of tone indices by determining a fifth set oftone indices based on the third set of tone indices and by comparing thefifth set of tone indices with a mapping table, in which the mappingtable maps the fifth set of tone indices to the fourth set of toneindices. In another aspect, the fourth set of tone indices is determinedbased on an interleaver matrix function and the third set of toneindices. In another configuration, the tone mapping component 1224 maybe configured to determine the fourth set of tone indices, for each toneindex in the third set of tone indices, by determining an index positionof a corresponding tone index in the fourth set of tone indicessubtracting the index position by an offset value and by dividing thedifference by a scaling factor.

The various components of the wireless device 1202 may be coupledtogether by a bus system 1226. The bus system 1226 may include a databus, for example, as well as a power bus, a control signal bus, and astatus signal bus in addition to the data bus. Components of thewireless device 1202 may be coupled together or accept or provide inputsto each other using some other mechanism.

Although a number of separate components are illustrated in FIG. 12, oneor more of the components may be combined or commonly implemented. Forexample, the processor 1204 may be used to implement not only thefunctionality described above with respect to the processor 1204, butalso to implement the functionality described above with respect to thesignal detector 1218, the DSP 1220, the user interface 1222, and/or thetone mapping component 1224. Further, each of the components illustratedin FIG. 12 may be implemented using a plurality of separate elements.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart of an exemplary method 1300 of wirelesscommunication for transmitting on tone mapped resource blocks. Themethod 1300 may be performed using an apparatus (e.g., the STA 113, theSTA 206, or the wireless device 1202, for example). Although the method1300 is described below with respect to the elements of wireless device1202 of FIG. 12, other components may be used to implement one or moreof the steps described herein. In FIG. 13, the blocks indicated withdotted lines represent optional operations.

At block 1305, the apparatus may receive allocation information relatedto at least one allocated resource block. For example, referring to FIG.2, the apparatus may be the STA 212. The STA 212 may receive a triggermessage 216 from the AP 202. The trigger message 216 may indicate aresource block (e.g., an index associated with a resource block) thathas been allocated to the STA 212.

At block 1310, the apparatus may determine a first set of tone indicesassociated with the at least one allocated resource block based on thereceived allocation information. The first set of tone indices may be afunction of a second set of tone indices associated with the at leastone allocated resource block. The first set of tone indices may be a setof physical tone indices and the second set of tone indices may be a setof nominal tone indices. In a truncated bit reversal example, the STA212 may receive a trigger message 216 from the AP 202 indicating a setof nominal tone indices [11:42]. The STA 212 may compare each tone indexin the set of nominal tone indices with a mapping table. The mappingtable may indicate which tone index from the set of physical toneindices (e.g., distributed tone indices in Table 1), corresponds to eachof the nominal tone indices. The STA 212 may then identify a tone indexfrom the set of physical tone indices based on the comparison.

At block 1315, the apparatus may transmit data on the determined firstset of tone indices associated with the at least one allocated resourceblock. For example, referring to FIG. 2, the STA 212 may transmit dataon the determined set of physical tone indices associated with theresource block.

At block 1320, the apparatus may receive a plurality of data packetsfrom a second wireless device over a first set of tone indicesassociated with a resource block. Each data packet of the plurality ofdata packets may be received over a tone index of the first set of toneindices.

At block 1325, the apparatus may determine a second set of tone indicesassociated with the resource block based on the first set of toneindices. The first set of tone indices may be a set of physical toneindices that is logically mapped to the second set of tone indices thatis a set of nominal tone indices.

At block 1330, the apparatus may reorder the received plurality of datapackets based on the second set of tone indices.

For example, referring to FIGS. 2 and 6, using a truncated bit reversalexample, the STA 212 may receive a plurality of data packets from the AP202 over a first set of physical tone indices 2, 6, 1 5, 7. Each of thedata packets may be received over a tone index (e.g., tone index 2). TheSTA 212 may determine a set of nominal tone indices associated with theresource block. The set of physical tone indices may be logically mappedto the set of nominal tone indices. Having determined the set of nominaltone indices, the STA 212 may reorder or rearrange the data packets intothe proper order intended by the AP 202. In this example, physical toneindex 1 may have data packet 3. Physical tone index 2 may have datapacket 1. Physical tone index 5 may have data packet 4. Physical toneindex 6 may have data packet 2. And physical tone index 7 may have datapacket 5. If the data packets were arranged according to the physicaltone indices on which the data packets were sent, the order for the datapackets would be data packets 3, 1, 4, 2, 5. As such the data packetswould be out of order for decoding. By de-mapping to recover the set ofnominal tone indices to which the set of physical tone indices ismapped, data packet 1 will be associated with nominal tone index 1, datapacket 2 will be associated with nominal tone index 2, data packet 3will be associated with nominal tone index 5, data packet 4 will beassociated with nominal tone index 6, and data packet 5 will beassociated with nominal tone index 7. Thus, if the data packets werearranged according to the nominal tone indices 1, 2, 5, 6, 7, the datapackets would be in the order of data packet 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, which can beproperly decoded.

FIG. 14 is a functional block diagram of an exemplary wirelesscommunication device 1400 for transmitting on tone mapped resourceblocks. The wireless communication device 1400 may include a receiver1405, a processing system 1410, and a transmitter 1415. The processingsystem 1410 may include a tone mapping component 1424 and/or a packetrearranging component 1426. The processing system 1410, the tone mappingcomponent 1424, and/or the receiver 1405 may be configured to receivingallocation information related to at least one allocated resource block.The processing system 1410 and/or the tone mapping component 1424 may beconfigured to determine a first set of tone indices (e.g., convertedtone indices 1432) associated with the at least one allocated resourceblock (e.g., an allocated TAU 1438) based on the received allocationinformation. The first set of tone indices may be a function of a secondset of tone indices (e.g., associated tone indices 1430) associated withthe at least one allocated resource block. The first set of tone indicesmay be a set of physical tone indices, and the second set of toneindices may be a set of nominal tone indices. The processing system1410, the tone mapping component 1424, and/or the transmitter 1415 maybe configure to transmit data (e.g., data packets for transmission 1434)on the determined first set of tone indices associated with the at leastone allocated resource block. In an aspect, the allocation informationmay include the second set of tone indices. In this aspect, theprocessing system 1410 and/or the tone mapping component 1424 may beconfigured to determine the first set of tone indices by comparing eachtone index in the second set of tone indices with a mapping table, inwhich the mapping table indicates which tone index from the first set oftone indices corresponds to each tone index in the second set of toneindices, and by identifying a tone index from the first set of toneindices that corresponds to each tone index in the second set of toneindices. In another aspect, the allocation information may include atleast one identifier, and the at least one identifier may be associatedwith the at least one allocated resource block. In this aspect, theprocessing system 1410 and/or the tone mapping component 1424 may beconfigured to determine the first set of tone indices by determining thefirst set of tone indices as a function of the at least one identifier.In another configuration, the processing system 1410 and/or the tonemapping component 1424 may be configured to determine the first set oftone indices by determining an interleaver matrix according to abandwidth size and by determining the first set of tone indices based onthe interleaver matrix and the at least one identifier. In anotherconfiguration, the processing system 1410 and/or the tone mappingcomponent 1424 may be configured to receive a plurality of data packets(e.g., received data packets 1436) from a wireless device over a thirdset of tone indices associated with a second resource block, in whicheach data packet of the plurality of data packets is received over atone index of the third set of tone indices, and to determine a fourthset of tone indices associated with the second resource block based onthe third set of tone indices, in which the third set of tone indices isa set of physical tone indices that is logically mapped to the fourthset of tone indices that is a set of nominal tone indices. In anotherconfiguration, the processing system 1410, the tone mapping component1424, and/or the packet rearranging component 1426 may be configured toreorder the received plurality of data packets based on the fourth setof tone indices (e.g., to generate rearranged data packets 1440). Inthis configuration, the processing system 1410, the tone mappingcomponent 1424, and/or the packet rearranging component 1426 may beconfigured to reorder by determining a tone index in the third set oftone indices on which each data packet of the plurality of data packetswas received, by determining a corresponding tone index in the fourthset of tone indices for each tone index on which each data packet of theplurality of data packets was received, and by rearranging the pluralityof data packets based an order of each corresponding tone index in thefourth set of tone indices. In another configuration, the processingsystem 1410 and/or the tone mapping component 1424 may be configured todetermine the fourth set of tone indices by determining a fifth set oftone indices based on the third set of tone indices and by comparing thefifth set of tone indices with a mapping table, in which the mappingtable maps the fifth set of tone indices to the fourth set of toneindices. In another aspect, the fourth set of tone indices may bedetermined based on an interleaver matrix function and the third set oftone indices. In another configuration, the processing system 1410and/or the tone mapping component 1424 may be configured to determinethe fourth set of tone indices, for each tone index in the third set oftone indices, by determining an index position of a corresponding toneindex in the fourth set of tone indices, by subtracting the indexposition by an offset value, and by dividing the difference by a scalingfactor.

The receiver 1405, the processing system 1410, the tone mappingcomponent 1424, the packet rearranging component 1426, and/or thetransmitter 1415 may be configured to perform one or more functionsdiscussed above with respect to blocks 1305, 1310, 1315, 1320, 1325, and1330 of FIG. 13. The receiver 1405 may correspond to the receiver 1212.The processing system 1410 may correspond to the processor 1204. Thetransmitter 1415 may correspond to the transmitter 1210. The tonemapping component 1224 may correspond to the tone mapping component 126and/or the tone mapping component 1224.

Moreover, means for receiving allocation information related to at leastone allocated resource block may comprise the processing system 1410,the tone mapping component 1424, and/or the receiver 1405. Means fordetermining a first set of tone indices associated with the at least oneallocated resource block based on the received allocation informationmay comprise the processing system 1410 and/or the tone mappingcomponent 1424. Means for transmitting data on the determined first setof tone indices associated with the at least one allocated resourceblock may comprise the processing system 1410, the tone mappingcomponent 1424, and/or the transmitter 1415. Means for receiving aplurality of data packets may comprise the processing system 1410, thetone mapping component 1424, and/or the receiver 1405. Means fordetermining a fourth set of tone indices may comprise the processingsystem 1410 and/or the tone mapping component 1424. Means for reorderingmay comprise the processing system 1410, the packet rearrangingcomponent 1426, and/or the tone mapping component 1424.

The various operations of methods described above may be performed byany suitable means capable of performing the operations, such as varioushardware and/or software component(s), circuits, and/or module(s).Generally, any operations illustrated in the Figures may be performed bycorresponding functional means capable of performing the operations.

The various illustrative logical blocks, components and circuitsdescribed in connection with the present disclosure may be implementedor performed with a general purpose processor, a DSP, an applicationspecific integrated circuit (ASIC), an FPGA or other PLD, discrete gateor transistor logic, discrete hardware components or any combinationthereof designed to perform the functions described herein. A generalpurpose processor may be a microprocessor, but in the alternative, theprocessor may be any commercially available processor, controller,microcontroller or state machine. A processor may also be implemented asa combination of computing devices, e.g., a combination of a DSP and amicroprocessor, a plurality of microprocessors, one or moremicroprocessors in conjunction with a DSP core, or any other suchconfiguration.

In one or more aspects, the functions described may be implemented inhardware, software, firmware, or any combination thereof. If implementedin software, the functions may be stored on or transmitted over as oneor more instructions or code on a computer-readable medium.Computer-readable media includes both computer storage media andcommunication media including any medium that facilitates transfer of acomputer program from one place to another. A storage media may be anyavailable media that can be accessed by a computer. By way of example,and not limitation, such computer-readable media can comprise RAM, ROM,EEPROM, compact disk (CD) ROM (CD-ROM) or other optical disk storage,magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any othermedium that can be used to carry or store desired program code in theform of instructions or data structures and that can be accessed by acomputer. Also, any connection is properly termed a computer-readablemedium. For example, if the software is transmitted from a website,server, or other remote source using a coaxial cable, fiber optic cable,twisted pair, digital subscriber line (DSL), or wireless technologiessuch as infrared, radio, and microwave, then the coaxial cable, fiberoptic cable, twisted pair, DSL, or wireless technologies such asinfrared, radio, and microwave are included in the definition of medium.Disk and disc, as used herein, includes CD, laser disc, optical disc,digital versatile disc (DVD), floppy disk and Blu-ray disc where disksusually reproduce data magnetically, while discs reproduce dataoptically with lasers. Thus, computer readable medium comprisesnon-transitory computer readable medium (e.g., tangible media).

The methods disclosed herein comprise one or more steps or actions forachieving the described method. The method steps and/or actions may beinterchanged with one another without departing from the scope of theclaims. In other words, unless a specific order of steps or actions isspecified, the order and/or use of specific steps and/or actions may bemodified without departing from the scope of the claims.

Thus, certain aspects may comprise a computer program product forperforming the operations presented herein. For example, such a computerprogram product may comprise a computer readable medium havinginstructions stored (and/or encoded) thereon, the instructions beingexecutable by one or more processors to perform the operations describedherein. For certain aspects, the computer program product may includepackaging material.

Further, it should be appreciated that components and/or otherappropriate means for performing the methods and techniques describedherein can be downloaded and/or otherwise obtained by a user terminaland/or base station as applicable. For example, such a device can becoupled to a server to facilitate the transfer of means for performingthe methods described herein. Alternatively, various methods describedherein can be provided via storage means (e.g., RAM, ROM, a physicalstorage medium such as a CD or floppy disk, etc.), such that a userterminal and/or base station can obtain the various methods uponcoupling or providing the storage means to the device. Moreover, anyother suitable technique for providing the methods and techniquesdescribed herein to a device can be utilized.

It is to be understood that the claims are not limited to the preciseconfiguration and components illustrated above. Various modifications,changes and variations may be made in the arrangement, operation anddetails of the methods and apparatus described above without departingfrom the scope of the claims.

While the foregoing is directed to aspects of the present disclosure,other and further aspects of the disclosure may be devised withoutdeparting from the basic scope thereof, and the scope thereof isdetermined by the claims that follow.

The previous description is provided to enable any person skilled in theart to practice the various aspects described herein. Variousmodifications to these aspects will be readily apparent to those skilledin the art, and the generic principles defined herein may be applied toother aspects. Thus, the claims are not intended to be limited to theaspects shown herein, but is to be accorded the full scope consistentwith the language claims, wherein reference to an element in thesingular is not intended to mean “one and only one” unless specificallyso stated, but rather “one or more.” Unless specifically statedotherwise, the term “some” refers to one or more. All structural andfunctional equivalents to the elements of the various aspects describedthroughout this disclosure that are known or later come to be known tothose of ordinary skill in the art are expressly incorporated herein byreference and are intended to be encompassed by the claims. Moreover,nothing disclosed herein is intended to be dedicated to the publicregardless of whether such disclosure is explicitly recited in theclaims. No claim element is to be construed under the provisions of 35U.S.C. §112(f), unless the element is expressly recited using the phrase“means for” or, in the case of a method claim, the element is recitedusing the phrase “step for.”

What is claimed is:
 1. A method of wireless communication for an accesspoint, comprising: allocating a plurality of resource blocks forwireless communication; and transmitting data on a first resource blockof the plurality of resource blocks, wherein the first resource block isassociated with a first set of tone indices and a second set of toneindices, and the first set of tone indices is a set of nominal toneindices that is logically mapped to a second set of tone indices that isa set of physical tone indices.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein thesecond set of tone indices is based on bit reversal function of a thirdset of tone indices, and the second set of tone indices does not includedirect current tones and guard tones, and wherein the first set of toneindices represents a natural order of the second set of tone indices. 3.The method of claim 1, wherein the second set of tone indices is basedon an interleaver matrix function of the first set of tone indices, andwherein an input into the interleaver matrix function is a set of toneindices.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein each tone index in the firstset of tone indices is mapped to a corresponding tone index in thesecond set of tone indices based on an equation, f(x)=i*D_(m)+k, whereini is a local tone index associated with the first resource block, Dm isa scaling factor, k is a resource block number associated with the firstresource block, and f(x) is an index position related to the first setof tone indices, and wherein the corresponding tone index in the secondset of tone indices corresponds to a tone index in the first set of toneindices having the index position of f(x).
 5. The method of claim 4,wherein when f(x) is greater than a MaxToneIndex, the MaxToneIndexrepresenting a maximum distributed tone index, f(x) is determined by asecond equation, mod(f(x),MaxToneIndex), and the corresponding toneindex in the second set of tone indices corresponds to a tone index inthe first set of tone indices having the index position equal tomod(f(x),MaxToneIndex).
 6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:transmitting allocation information related to a second resource block,wherein the second resource block is associated with a third set of toneindices and a fourth set of tone indices, and the third set of toneindices is a set of nominal tone indices that is logically mapped to thefourth set of tone indices that is a set of physical tone indices, andwherein the allocation information comprises at least one of the thirdset of tone indices, an identifier, a resource block size, or the fourthset of tone indices.
 7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:receiving a plurality of data packets from a wireless device over athird set of tone indices associated with a second resource block,wherein each data packet of the plurality of data packets is receivedover a tone index of the third set of tone indices; and determining afourth set of tone indices associated with the second resource blockbased on the third set of tone indices, wherein the third set of toneindices is a set of physical tone indices that is logically mapped tothe fourth set of tone indices that is a set of nominal tone indices. 8.The method of claim 7, furthering comprising reordering the receivedplurality of data packets based on the fourth set of tone indices. 9.The method of claim 8, wherein the reordering comprises: determining atone index in the third set of tone indices on which each data packet ofthe plurality of data packets was received; determining a correspondingtone index in the fourth set of tone indices for each tone index onwhich each data packet of the plurality of data packets was received;and rearranging the plurality of data packets based an order of eachcorresponding tone index in the fourth set of tone indices.
 10. Themethod of claim 7, wherein the determining the fourth set of toneindices comprises: determining a fifth set of tone indices based on thethird set of tone indices; and comparing the fifth set of tone indiceswith a mapping table, wherein the mapping table maps the fifth set oftone indices to the fourth set of tone indices.
 11. The method of claim7, wherein the fourth set of tone indices is determined based on aninterleaver matrix function and the third set of tone indices.
 12. Themethod of claim 7, wherein the determining the fourth set of toneindices comprises: for each tone index in the third set of tone indices,determining an index position of a corresponding tone index in thefourth set of tone indices; subtracting the index position by an offsetvalue; and dividing the difference by a scaling factor.
 13. A method ofwireless communication for a station, comprising: receiving allocationinformation related to at least one allocated resource block;determining a first set of tone indices associated with the at least oneallocated resource block based on the received allocation information,wherein the first set of tone indices is a function of a second set oftone indices associated with the at least one allocated resource block,and the first set of tone indices is a set of physical tone indices andthe second set of tone indices is a set of nominal tone indices; andtransmitting data on the determined first set of tone indices associatedwith the at least one allocated resource block.
 14. The method of claim13, wherein the allocation information comprises the second set of toneindices, and wherein the determining the first set of tone indicescomprises: comparing each tone index in the second set of tone indiceswith a mapping table, wherein the mapping table indicates which toneindex from the first set of tone indices corresponds to each tone indexin the second set of tone indices; and identifying a tone index from thefirst set of tone indices that corresponds to each tone index in thesecond set of tone indices.
 15. The method of claim 13, wherein theallocation information comprises at least one identifier, the at leastone identifier being associated with the at least one allocated resourceblock, and wherein the determining the first set of tone indicescomprises determining the first set of tone indices as a function of theat least one identifier.
 16. The method of claim 15, wherein thedetermining the first set of tone indices further comprises: determiningan interleaver matrix according to a bandwidth size; and determining thefirst set of tone indices based on the interleaver matrix and the atleast one identifier.
 17. The method of claim 13, further comprising:receiving a plurality of data packets from a wireless device over athird set of tone indices associated with a second resource block,wherein each data packet of the plurality of data packets is receivedover a tone index of the third set of tone indices; and determining afourth set of tone indices associated with the second resource blockbased on the third set of tone indices, wherein the third set of toneindices is a set of physical tone indices that is logically mapped tothe fourth set of tone indices that is a set of nominal tone indices.18. The method of claim 17, furthering comprising reordering thereceived plurality of data packets based on the fourth set of toneindices.
 19. The method of claim 18, wherein the reordering comprises:determining a tone index in the third set of tone indices on which eachdata packet of the plurality of data packets was received; determining acorresponding tone index in the fourth set of tone indices for each toneindex on which each data packet of the plurality of data packets wasreceived; and rearranging the plurality of data packets based an orderof each corresponding tone index in the fourth set of tone indices. 20.The method of claim 17, wherein the determining the fourth set of toneindices comprises: determining a fifth set of tone indices based on thethird set of tone indices; and comparing the fifth set of tone indiceswith a mapping table, wherein the mapping table maps the fifth set oftone indices to the fourth set of tone indices.
 21. The method of claim17, wherein the fourth set of tone indices is determined based on aninterleaver matrix function and the third set of tone indices.
 22. Themethod of claim 17, wherein the determining the fourth set of toneindices comprises: for each tone index in the third set of tone indices,determining an index position of a corresponding tone index in thefourth set of tone indices; subtracting the index position by an offsetvalue; and dividing the difference by a scaling factor.
 23. An apparatusfor wireless communication, comprising: a memory; and at least oneprocessor coupled to the memory and configured to: allocate a pluralityof resource blocks for wireless communication; and transmit data on afirst resource block of the plurality of resource blocks, wherein thefirst resource block is associated with a first set of tone indices anda second set of tone indices, and the first set of tone indices is a setof nominal tone indices that is logically mapped to a second set of toneindices that is a set of physical tone indices.
 24. The apparatus ofclaim 23, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to:transmit allocation information related to a second resource block,wherein the second resource block is associated with a third set of toneindices and a fourth set of tone indices, and the third set of toneindices is a set of nominal tone indices that is logically mapped to thefourth set of tone indices that is a set of physical tone indices, andwherein the allocation information comprises at least one of the thirdset of tone indices, an identifier, a resource block size, or the fourthset of tone indices.
 25. The apparatus of claim 23, wherein the at leastone processor is further configured to: receive a plurality of datapackets from a wireless device over a third set of tone indicesassociated with a second resource block, wherein each data packet of theplurality of data packets is received over a tone index of the third setof tone indices; and determine a fourth set of tone indices associatedwith the second resource block based on the third set of tone indices,wherein the third set of tone indices is a set of physical tone indicesthat is logically mapped to the fourth set of tone indices that is a setof nominal tone indices.
 26. The apparatus of claim 25, wherein the atleast one processor is further configured to reorder the receivedplurality of data packets based on the fourth set of tone indices. 27.The apparatus of claim 26, wherein the at least one processor isconfigured to reorder by: determining a tone index in the third set oftone indices on which each data packet of the plurality of data packetswas received; determining a corresponding tone index in the fourth setof tone indices for each tone index on which each data packet of theplurality of data packets was received; and rearranging the plurality ofdata packets based an order of each corresponding tone index in thefourth set of tone indices.
 28. An apparatus for wireless communication,comprising: a memory; and at least one processor coupled to the memoryand configured to: receive allocation information related to at leastone allocated resource block; determine a first set of tone indicesassociated with the at least one allocated resource block based on thereceived allocation information, wherein the first set of tone indicesis a function of a second set of tone indices associated with the atleast one allocated resource block, and the first set of tone indices isa set of physical tone indices and the second set of tone indices is aset of nominal tone indices; and transmit data on the determined firstset of tone indices associated with the at least one allocated resourceblock.
 29. The apparatus of claim 28, wherein the allocation informationcomprises the second set of tone indices, and wherein the at least oneprocessor is configured to determine the first set of tone indices by:comparing each tone index in the second set of tone indices with amapping table, wherein the mapping table indicates which tone index fromthe first set of tone indices corresponds to each tone index in thesecond set of tone indices; and identifying a tone index from the firstset of tone indices that corresponds to each tone index in the secondset of tone indices.
 30. The apparatus of claim 28, wherein theallocation information comprises at least one identifier, the at leastone identifier being associated with the at least one allocated resourceblock, and wherein the determining the first set of tone indicescomprises determining the first set of tone indices as a function of theat least one identifier.